Kat Reviews Monday Night Raw

Monday, Monday, Monday! We don’t get taped Raws very often, but we’re getting one tonight. This was taped back on Friday but it looks like they’ve thrown a pretty good show together. The OTC is even here! Let’s see what is happening. But first…

Hey, it’s Monday! It is 6:00 p.m. (ET) and… time for Raw? Sure! I’m not against it!

Thank you for Garth for filling in for me last week. He did an amazing job and you should check out the many great things he has written. I never did go back and watch it myself. I am excited to get back to it. Let’s see what is on the schedule tonight. checks notes Ah yes, a contract signing. It’s like I never left.

Monday! It has appeared again. With that, Raw is here on Netflix and presented by DoorDash! We have many weeks ahead before Money in the Bank, but we have a Sunday Night’s Main Event, TripleMania and Worlds Collide all to build towards between now and then. Let’s see how we do that tonight.

Happy Monday, friends. We’ve survived SummerSlam weekend and now we’re on the road to checks notes Sunday Night’s Main Event and Worlds Collide before we hit Money in the Bank in October. Who will step up to the Tribal Chief? What do we do now with Oba Femi? When will Liv Morgan defend her title again? Raw is here and it does not promise answers.

Happy Monday once again. It’s time for Raw. This is our last Raw on the road to SummerSlam and we have lots of SummerSlam-related things on the card. Will it be a good show? Well, it’ll probably be better than last week.

Saturday Night’s Main Event has once again happened and now we’re in the final countdown to SummerSlam. Will Raw offer up something interesting tonight or will it be another standard, by the numbers edition? I know how I’m betting!

Tonight, Netflix presents the MLB Home Run Derby! Oh, and also Monday Night Raw!

After a few trips overseas and a double-show taping, Raw is back in its regular time slot and we have a BIG show tonight. Two SmackDown superstars are here to fight for SmackDown’s World Title for reasons. We’re also in Chicago, which could be very coincidental or could weigh heavily in the story. Let’s find out together!

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Main Event / SmackDown / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Here’s a look at Sami Zayn winning the Undisputed WWE Champion at Night of Champions, Sami celebrating on SmackDown and Cody Rhodes winning a title shot by defeating Jey Uso.

THIS is the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, hosting Raw for the 36th time. We are live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash.

Arrivals! Oba Femi, The Judgment Day, and the Street Profits are here. Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn is here as well, pulling up in a convertible with the title raised and honking the horn. He comes across Cody Rhodes. Sami tells Cody that he probably thinks tonight is the night he’s just going to sweep in and be the golden boy champion again, but it isn’t happening. Cody tells him good luck and the fans chant for CM Punk. Gunther runs up to attack, powerbombing Cody through a convenient nearby table. “You’re welcome Sami, Cody is not your problem any more. I’m your problem now.” Gunther says he’s going to come for Sami and when he does… and he kicks a car door right into Cody’s head, Cody bleeding from the ear. Well, that puts a spin on things.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside, wondering what this means for the main event.

Seth Rollins is our opening promo tonight and gets the singing he usually gets. “Chicago, welcome to Monday Night Rollins.” He works the fans through getting the Punk chants out of their system. “I couldn’t care less about that guy right now.” He tells us his business is the World Heavyweight Championship, SummerSlam and Roman Reigns. The fans respond with an OTC chant now. The Shield debuted as a trio, he says, but it was made clear from the start that Roman was the chosen one. It didn’t sit right with Seth and he points at a little boy in the front row. “I was that boy. I sat in these stands and all I ever wanted to do my entire life was to walk down that ramp, to hold this microphone in my hand, get inside this ring. I wanted to main event WrestleManias, I wanted to be the biggest star in this industry. Those were my dreams and to watch those dreams be handed off to somebody else? That broke something in me and every decision that I made after that was in direct response to watching my dreams be handed off to somebody that I didn’t feel deserved it.” He knows his actions were petty but he believed if he put in the work, he could still achieve those dreams. It has never been about the money for him, the reward has always been the work. Roman has to beat him at SummerSlam because he needs to justify what he’s been trying to prove to himself for the last fifteen years, that he’s not a fraud.

L.A. Knight is here to finally interrupt the monologue and Chicago is hyped to see him. A sign in the crowd says THANK YOU FELLA, a tribute to Sheamus. Knight says he wasn’t listening to this two weeks in a row because Seth is out here putting people to sleep. Knight remembers back when you had to win matches to get title shots, reminding Seth that they both lost in the first round of the King of the Ring. Knight makes fun of the “brother” talk from last week and earns a chant from the crowd. He remembers making his rise before the Bloodline cut him off and then coming across the Vision. He says they’re the greatest at manipulating numbers but they can’t and won’t stop him from rising. Seth tells Knight that his time will come but he can’t worry about Knight right now because he has to go get his title back, telling Knight he’ll be the first he puts in the dirt if he wins. Really good promo from Knight. As Seth leaves, Jimmy Uso appears in the ring and superkicks Knight and the fans aren’t liking it.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is yelling at Gunther before SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis comes to yell as well. Gunther tells him that he failed as a wrestler and now he’s failing as a GM. Aldis is mad that Pearce poached his main event and tells Pearce that Cody was attacked and it is on Pearce.

Jackie Redmond is with The Vision’s Bron Breakker, Austin Theory and Logan Paul. They’re immediately interrupted by WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman, who tells Jackie to scurry. He says Breakker couldn’t take out Rollins and Theory couldn’t take out Joe Hendry. “Come back with something worthy of your Wiseman or don’t come back to me at all.”

WWE World Tag Team Championship: WWE World Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs The Vision (Bron Breakker and Austin Theory with Logan Paul)

Theory and Ford start it off and the crowd is all over Logan already. Dawkins tags in and slams his partner on top of Theory, something Theory easily kicks out of. Theory thrusts Dawkins into the corner and tags in Bron. Bron hits the gas pedal and runs over Dawkins with a clothesline to send us to a break.

Ford gets a hot tag as we return, kicking Bron in the head and flying in with a crossbody for a two count. Bron pops up Ford and hits a power slam, tagging in Theory who rolls right into a superkick because he’s a big dummy. Dawkins tags in and nails a Blockbuster off the top for a two count, stopped by Bron. Bron slings Ford outside and Theory catches Dawkins with a left hand. Logan slides the brass knuckles into the ring and the referee catches it. As the ref tosses Paul, he slides a second pair in and Dawkins nails Theory. Dawkins gets a hold of them as Logan argues with the ref when Maxxine Dupri appears to low blow Dawkins. Theory covers and that’s a title victory. After the match, Dupri jumps into Theory’s arms and gives him a big kiss.

Austin Theory pins Angelo Dawkins, The Vision defeats The Street Profits to become the new WWE World Tag Team Champions. The nut shot is always the lamest way to lose. This was the most entertained I’ve been by a Vision tag match in a while, probably because it didn’t have the long heat segment. I like Maxxine getting an edge. The Vision will continue until morale improves. I’d like to see the Profits get more time as champs, but perhaps the follow through will be good for them and they won’t just disappear again.

The medical squad checks on Cody and the medic tells Pearce that he can’t sign off on Cody. Cody says he’s fine, Pearce says no. Pearce, of course, weeks ago told a man who had been electrocuted minutes earlier that he was signing him up for a match. All I’m saying is that Nick Aldis would never and Pearce is inconsistent..

The Vision boys and girl celebrate and come across Heyman. Heyman nods. “Okay, first step but it’s only the first step.” He says at least someone got something accomplished tonight and points at Maxxine. As the Vision crew climb into their car and roll off, we see Akira Tozawa and Otis walking up and the crowd gasps.

To the Judgment Day Clubhouse. Liv Morgan tells Raquel Rodriguez that they’re doing everything in their power to make sure she leaves with gold. Raquel says she’s ripping the title off Sol Ruca’s waist.

Jackie Redmond is with WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta as we learn we’ll have a gauntlet match next week to determine his SummerSlam contender. Ethan Page and Rusev walk up to laugh that they’ve put Rey Mysterio on the shelf. Dragon Lee tells them to watch their mouths and Rusev tells him to learn English. Chad Gable joins them to defend his masked buddy and Page thinks they should go talk to Pearce and set up a tag team match.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca vs Raquel Rodriguez

Cole tells us Cody is on the way to the hospital to get scans to clear him for tonight. Good luck with that, that’s like a four-hour ER wait. Cole also reminds us that the last time Raquel held singles gold, it was in NXT. Ruca lifts Raquel out of a bridge and tries to roll her up. Sol kicks Raquel and slips before flying onto her shoulders, Raquel catching her with the Snake Eyes onto the turnbuckle. Raquel charges at Sol, Sol ducks and tries to moonsault onto her. Sol cartwheels on the apron, hits a kick and corkscrews onto her. In the ring, Raquel clotheslines the hell out of Sol to send us to break and Becky Lynch with the DoorDash bag.

After John Cena tells us about the benefits of Chime, we come back to Sol spring boarding onto Raquel for a near fall. Sol shoulder blocks Raquel several times but can’t chop her down until she nails a missile dropkick. Sol nails the Shining Wizard for a two count. Sol tries to splash Raquel but misses as Roxanne Perez finally joins us at ringside. Sol slides out of a Tejana Bomb attempt and Roxanne distracts the ref. Sol tries for a Sol Snatcher, WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan appears and grabs her leg to prevent it. Here’s Iyo Sky to leap off Rox from the barricade and kick down Olivia. Iyo Moonsaults on the shorter Judgment Day women and Sol takes it as a chance to hit Raquel with the Sol Snatcher, retaining the title.

Sol Ruca pins Raquel Rodriguez to retain the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. There were a few sloppy spots in this, but overall an enjoyable match. They had me thinking maybe they were going to put the belt on Raquel for a few, so it all worked. She’ll have singles gold before this time next year I bet.

Here’s a sneak peak at season three of WWE Unreal, a thing happening on Netflix in a few weeks featuring John Cena’s retirement, the rise of Oba Femi, CM Punk and AJ Lee, and of course the center of our universe Triple H.

WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman is in the ring because we need more Paul Heyman on this show, damn it. He says he is here to talk about Oba Femi. He says that Oba being hit in the nuts last time is nothing compared to the pain coming to him at Hell in a Cell. He promises Brock will destroy Oba. We were told WWE King of the Ring Oba Femi was here, so it is no shock that this is the point he decides to make his grand entrance. The fans, as always, are very into Oba, chanting through the whole thing. Oba says he came out to give Paul a face to talk to, and Paul gives us the “talk shit, get hit” line from last week. He gives Oba credit for WrestleMania but says that Brock proved Oba is also beatable in Italy. He reminds Oba that Brock has a good history in a cage both in WWE and UFC. “That Cell is the Brocktagon.” Okay. One man will leave SummerSlam with their reputation of being the unbeatable superstar, Heyman says, and that man is Brock Lesnar. “The beatable one is going to be Oba Femi.”

Paul tosses the mic and Oba lifts his own. The fact that Brock showed up proves that Brock watches the show, he says, but now Heyman keeps writing checks that Brock can’t cash. “That’s what you are, Paul. You’re less than an advocate. You’re just a mouth. And that’s the thing about a mouth, mouths need to be fed. But how can you feed if you have no head?” Paul is also very good at writing checks that can’t be cashed. He says that Paul is scared because every man knows when his time has come and this is the final chapter for Brock. “In front of his friends, in front of his family, in front of his wife, in front of his children.” He says you have to walk through hell to get to heaven and tells Paul to let Brock know he’ll see him in hell. A hell of a promo yet again for Oba.

Jackie Redmond is with Sami Zayn, taping his wrists. She confirms Cody can’t compete tonight and a smile lights up on Sami’s face and the fans immediately chant for CM Punk. Sami says he’s a good guy, perhaps the last good one, and he doesn’t wish ill upon Cody. Adam Pearce walks up and asks Sami if he knows where they are. He promised Chicago a championship match and tells Sami to prepare because he’s defending tonight.

Here’s a look at El Grande Americano attending the World Cup yesterday, something that is going on right as this program airs but also please don’t turn the channel. You can buy a WWE x FIFA World Cup Championship Title because of course you can.

Chad Gable and Dragon Lee vs Rusev and Ethan Page

All four men will be competing next week in the gauntlet along with Je’Von Evans, Dominik Mysterio and Joe Hendry to determine who is going to battle Penta at SummerSlam. The heels attack to start as Cole wonders what happens if Page and Rusev are the last two in the gauntlet match. Gable gets a hot tag and suplexes Rusev around the squared circle before tossing Page across the ring as well. Rusev pulls Ethan out of the ring and Gable suplexes a running Lee out of the ring and onto Page and Rusev for our ad break highlight moment.

We come back to Rusev beating down Gable as Cole reminds us we have no idea who Sami will defend his title against tonight. Gable DDTs Rusev and gets the hot tag to Lee while Rusev tags in Page. Lee drops the corner boot onto Page and hits a tornado DDT even without hitting the rope to get the momentum to spin. Rusev nails Gable with a kick, Lee kicks Rusev in the face and goes up top. Rusev catches him with a slam and a kick, hooking the Accolade on. Lee actually taps and Rusev won’t let go. Gable hooks Rusev from behind and deadlifts him in a suplex attempt, Page coming in for the beat down. Gable’s in the Accolade until Joe Hendry appears. Hendry hits a fallaway slam on Page and Rusev kicks him down as well. Page lands the Ego Plex and now it’s Hendry’s turn for the Accolade.

Rusev makes Dragon Lee submit, Rusev & Page defeat Lee & Gable. A good enough match with some good development in the post-match ruckus. I was shocked that Rusev actually won with the Accolade which is not a good sign of how the move has worked since his return. Also where is Je’Von?

Jimmy Uso is leaving and Jackie runs up after him, asking what message he was trying to send. Big Jim says he’s going to SmackDown to get Solo. Knight comes up to confront and Jacob Fatu lays him right out, followed by a smiling Main Event Jey Uso.

Pearce is on the phone trying to find a challenger for tonight. Otis is there! Give him a shot.

Here’s a vignette on Bayley with some words for Lyra Valkyria.

Next week, Brock Lesnar will be here, we’ll have the gauntlet match, and Iyo Sky faces Roxanne Perez. The OTC will be there too.

Pearce is texting as Aldis wanders up behind him. Pearce says he made a successful call and has secured a replacement to face Sami. “That superstar is in the building.” The fans chant for a certain Chicago native as Sami heads to the Gorilla position.

The great Alicia Taylor gives Sami the big championship introduction as Sami fist bumps a girl with a sign saying it is her birthday. The last real good guy! Boy, they’re going to have to do something wild to win back this crowd if the challenger is not in fact a certain Chicago resident. The fans chant for CM Punk before we see the Allstate Arena door open and CM Punk, walking into the arena. He walks from the door to Gorilla as “Cult of Personality” hits and the Allstate Arena explodes.

Undisputed WWE Championship: Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn vs CM Punk

We last saw Punk, of course, in a losing effort at WrestleMania against Roman Reigns. Zayn last competed on this program in a win over Rusev back in August. The Undisputed WWE Championship itself was last defended on a Raw way back in November 2021 when Big E successfully defended it against Austin Theory in the Barclays Center before it evolved into being called the Undisputed WWE Championship.

The fans boo Sami loudly every time he overtakes Punk in the starting run of the match. Punk pulls Zayn outside and slams him to the apron before diving onto him with a suicide dive, our very favorite way to send the show to a commercial break.

We return to Sami taunting a downed Punk. Sami knees Punk to the mat. Punk fights back with a running knee – “Vintage Punk,” calls Cole – as Punk hits a spinning neckbreaker for a two count. Punk signals for the GTS, lifting Sami up and Sami slithering out. Punk counters a Blue Thunder Bomb attempt and hammer locks Sami into a clothesline and another pin attempt. The fans chant for Punk as he heads to the top rope, Sami knocking him down and suplexing him to send us to one final break.

The men are trading blows when we return as Cole reminds us of the title’s 60-plus year history. Punk tries for a GTS, Sami slips out and Punk hits the corner knee. Sami grabs Punk as he plays to the crowd, spinning into the Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Punk knees at Zayn and this time lands the bulldog, going up and landing his Macho Man elbow for a near fall. Punk locks the Anaconda Vice and Zayn tries to fight it, flailing and finally counting out. In his pink and black gear, Punk tries for a Sharpshooter but Sami kicks out. Those of us who have played through WWE 2K26 are having flashbacks to CM Hart. Punk scoops him for the GTS and Sami rolls through, this time not getting the surprise three count. One more GTS attempt and Sami again scoops his way out, grabbing his own GTS for a near fall. Sami signals for the Helluva Kick and takes a while to go for it, Punk catching him with the Exploder into the corner. Sami hits another GTS on Punk and a Blue Thunder Bomb, Punk again kicking out.

Sami slaps Punk, telling him he is the champion now. The fans are hating it. Punk works his way to his feet and starts trading blows, hitting the running knee on Sami and dodging a Helluva Kick. Punk hits his own Helluva Kick and lands the GTS. The reign of Sami Zayn ends at nine days, the shortest reign since The Miz and his eight day reign in 2021.

CM Punk pins Sami Zayn to become the new Undisputed WWE Champion. A very, very good match. I’d like to see Sami get a longer run, but I feel like they might spin this into something fun for Sami and it’s cool he got the title in the first place. I think we might’ve just found something for Cody to do at SummerSlam (if not Sami and Gunther as well).

We close our show with Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk celebrating with his title, telling the camera, “I’ll be home in twenty minutes, babe” and then blowing a kiss, leaving through the crowd as he has done before in this arena.

A good episode this week. The main event is worth your viewing time because it is Punk vs Zayn in Chicago. None of the other matches feel “can’t miss” and you can digest just as well through YouTube highlights, but I would also recommend checking the Oba promo.

We’ve survived a weekend FULL of wrestling, but now Monday is here and so is Monday Night Raw. Night of Champions is in the past and the road to SummerSlam begins with a pit stop at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

We’re back overseas again which means it’s a Monday afternoon (or even morning in some cases) Raw for those of us in North America. We also have Night of Champions coming up this Saturday and the matches for it are mostly already set, so I’m not sure there will be that much excitement. Let’s find out together!

After a few weeks overseas, we return to the United States for Monday Night Raw. Well, until next week when we have Raw is London and then head to Saudi for Night of Champions.

Before we jump in, let’s promote my new NXT 2.0 Rewind. Once upon a time, WWE decided to introduce Bron Breakker and Trick Williams in one show. It might go down as one of the more historic nights as time goes on. Besides that, we had a wedding!

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / SmackDown / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Welcome to Baltimore, Maryland. This is CFG Bank Arena and this is Monday Night Raw, live on Netflix and presented on DoorDash. Here’s a look at the Bloodline drama from SmackDown with special guests L.A. Knight, Royce Keys and Finn Balor.

Arrivals! Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso arrive in multiple vehicles and Roman is handed his belt. They’re on the way to the ring but come across Jacob Fatu, hand out only for his Tribal Chief.

The Bloodline (WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, Main Event Jey Uso, Big Jim uso and Jacob Fatu) join us in the arena to start things off. After his extended entrance, two sets of pyro, an OTC chant, a crowd song and lots of fingers in the air, Roman commands acknowledgement at 8:10. The fans are happy to oblige. Roman says we have a lot to be grateful for like Jey advancing in King of the Ring, asking for acknowledgement of the Yeet Man as well. He also knows that without Big Jim, there wouldn’t be a right hand man, a Tribal Chief or a Bloodline. We acknowledge Big Jim. The fans chant “Fatu” and Jey says yeah, there’s one person that hasn’t been acknowledged and who doesn’t listen.

Roman thinks that perhaps we have a problem and steps face-to-face with Fatu. Fatu snatches his mic and says “hell nah,” he doesn’t listen to Jimmy and Jey. “The only person that I acknowledge is my OTC Roman Reigns.” He hands the mic back to Roman. Roman: “Good. We don’t need yes men around here.” He calls for a man to bring a box to the ring and pulls out a wooden Ula Fala. Roman says that the Bloodline has always been here and is forever. He tells us about the Wild Samoans, Yokozuna, Rikishi, Umaga, The Usos all being The Bloodline. Roman reminds Jacob that he’s on the inside and welcomes him to the family business. “Jacob, welcome to the Bloodline.” He places the Ula Fala on Jacob and salutes as the Usos look on. Jimmy eventually joins the salute and finally Jey joins as well.

Corey Graves and Joe Tessitore greet us from ringside. Celebrities! They love Raw! Eric Andre is at ringside to promote his new show, “Little Brother,” which costars John Cena. His “Street Fighter” costar Roman acknowledges him on the way out. Andre touches the Ula Fala and Fatu yanks him over the barrier and tosses him into the ring, headbutting the hell out of him. The squad of officials come out and try to get in between Jacob and the fallen Andre and Roman calls Jacob off. Then Roman reverses decision and Fatu heads up top, hitting the splash on Andre as Roman smirks at Raw General Manager Adam Pearce. They leave and then Roman declares one more time, with Jacob running in and splashing Andre a second time. Celebrities! They… might not come to Raw for a few weeks.

Queen of the Ring Semifinal Match: Iyo Sky vs Raquel Rodriguez

The winner of this will face the winner of Liv Morgan vs Charlotte Flair in the finals at Night of Champions. Iyo attacks and clubs Raquel in the corner before Raquel finally catches her and crossbodies her. Raquel follows Iyo to the outside and tosses Iyo onto the timekeeper’s area barricade and clears the lid off the announce table. Iyo fights back into the ring and hooks on a guillotine; Raquel fades and then turns it into a vertical suplex. Raquel tumbles to the floor and Iyo dives onto her, Raquel catching her and throwing her dart-style into the ting post to send us to a break.

Back to it, Iyo is tossing a spinning back elbow and rolls Raquel into the stomp. Iyo calls for and lands the Bullet Train. She heads up to the second rope, missile dropkicks Raquel, and the fans are all in on her as she makes crown motions. Raquel ducks a second Bullet Train and catches Iyo, lifting her into the air, Iyo fighting out of it. Iyo tries to sunset flip Raquel on the outside and Raquel stomps her way out of it, scooping up Iyo and being shoved right into that announce table. With Raquel over the table, Iyo jumps from the barricade and Raquel sweeps her onto the table. Rodriguez yanks Iyo back into the ring and Iyo smacks her into the ring post, then hits a sunset power bomb on Raquel. Iyo heads up for the Over the Moonsault and nails it, getting the pin.

Iyo Sky pins Raquel Rodriguez. Great match. The fans adore Iyo and she continues to be one of the best wrestlers on the planet. Raquel continues to be a really good opponent. This was good. Iyo heads to Night of Champions and has twelve days to go shopping for a bodysuit that covers everything.

Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez are strolling backstage. Liv heads into… Danhausen’s laboratory??? He greets “Olivia” and sings a bit of “Trouble.” She pulls her jacket off and reveals her Danhausen shirt. She’s trying to flirt but he’s oblivious, celebrating finding his jar of human teeth. She asks him to curse Oba Femi. He agrees in exchange for human monies, magazine covers, his own song and being in her music videos. She sighs and leaves. “See ya, Olivia!” Danhausen is a delight. I appreciate that he travels with a full lab.

We come back from break to a new documentary video on Danhausen (produced by Danhausen) and his journey with the New York Knicks. He curses the ESPN guy, uncurses the Knicks, and the Knicks win it all. Danhausen goes to a game, has official NBA merchandise, and meets Cardi B and Tina Fey. What a story. And as Danhausen noted on Twitter, he’s only been in WWE for just over a hundred days.

Here’s a vignette with Seth Rollins. He has some words for Bron Breakker and will see him in a steel cage at Night of Champions.

Pearce chats with Lyra Valkyria, telling her that her title shot is finally going to happen. She leaves and L.A. Knight appears. Knight is mad about SmackDown and continues to accuse Pearce of being biased towards the Bloodline.

You can go to Fanatics.com and bid for the El Grande Americano Americano mask from Noche de Los Grandes, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Dr. Sonrisas supporting children facing life-threatening health conditions in Mexico.

Jackie Redmond is backstage with Chad Gable. When he’s done with Rusev, he has some others to apologize to tonight. He walks by and sees Maxxine Dupri talking to WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory and heads on to the ring with his new theme song which is not great. Def Rebel has to be stopped.

Chad Gable vs Rusev (with Ethan Page)

We last saw Gable as Gable on Raw in June 2025 in a losing effort to AJ Styles. Gable and Rusev have an odd last three matches together with the 2026 Rumble match, teaming together as part of Team Hogan at Crown Jewel 2019 and both losing the 51-man battle royal at Super Showdown 2019. They have two televised singles matches on SmackDown in 2017.

Rusev suplexes Gable, Gable counters with a few of his own. Gable gets a big belly-to-belly suplex and tries for the ankle lock, Rusev ducking outside to break it. Gable follows out and is shoved into the steel steps. Rusev suplexes Gable onto the floor and hammers Gable into the announce table. Gable snatches up Rusev and drops him onto the table and tosses him into the ring, Page distracting him long enoug for Rusev to shove him back into the desk. Rusev runs out and throws Gable across the table with a fallaway slam and we go to a DoorDash commercial.

After about eight of those commercials, the men are trading blows. Gable grabs ahold of Rusev and hits a German suplex. Rusev climbs up top and Gable drops him to the mat, pulling down the straps. Gable hooks the ankle lock, Rusev squirms into an Accolade and Gable dodges the kick to hook his lock again. Rusev grabs for Page’s hand, Gable drags him away so Page runs in and gets clotheslined out. This gives Rusev a chance to nail the kick and try for a pin, Gable kicking out at two. Rusev hooks the Accolade again. Gable breaks free and is able to get the Angle Slam, hooking the ankle again and this time getting the tap.

Chad Gable defeats Rusev by submission. This was a good showcase for Gable and he won the crowd over. Hopefully they’ll keep it going.

Page and Rusev attack after the match, WWE Hall of Famer & AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee come for the save. They show him the respect of lucha after the match.

Roman is directing a text to his assistant backstage when the Usos interrupt, asking why things that happened an hour ago happened. Roman says he called an audible and wonders why nobody has handled L.A. Knight. Perhaps he should send a Werewolf. Jimmy says he’s going to go talk to Knight.

Our WWE Hometown Hero is Lance Corporal Jheyco Borda, seated at ringside..

Celebrities! They love Raw! Zuffa boxer Jalil Hackett is here. Nasheed Smith is here. Celebrities!

Bron Breakker has a vignette of his own and his own thoughts about Seth Rollins.

L.A. Knight is joining us in the arena for some thoughts, introduced by the great Alicia Taylor. He takes a seat on top of the Slim Jim logo and talks about losing on SmackDown and how he had to get to Baltimore. He might’ve lost in the King of the Ring tournament but he doesn’t give up because he always fights the numbers. He didn’t have a famous dad or a Tribal Chief. Jimmy Uso interrupts and says he knows Knight has legit beef with his family but it is different now. Solo doesn’t run with his crew. That brings us Main Event Jey Uso for some thoughts of his own. He agrees with Jimmy and says they’ve told Knight over and over that Solo is on his own. Jey tells Knight that he’s here to tell him that he’s better than him and he needs Knight to acknowledge HIM. Knight didn’t expect this coming but it is a compelling offer.

He acknowledges with a finger in the air. “I acknowledge you… can kiss my ass.” Knight pounds at Jey, Jimmy superkicks to break it up. Jimmy is yelling at Knight that he was trying to tell him while Jey runs out to grab a chair. Knight gets ahold of it and chairs both men before Fatu runs out and hooks the Tongan Death Grip on Knight, taking him down to the mat. Fatu looks over at the Usos and leaves, Jey storming after him. I enjoy Knight and I’m fine with the story but man we’re doing a lot of Bloodline talking tonight. Remember wrestling? We used to have that here.

Backstage, the Usos argue. Jacob says he did it the OTC way.

NXT Origins: Alexa Bliss. We look back at Alexa’s transformations in NXT and her rise through WWE.

Charlotte Flair (with Alexa Bliss) vs Roxanne Perez (with WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan)

With Charlotte and Liv coming to battle in the days ahead, I’m not expecting things to end cleanly here. This is the first singles meeting between these two. Charlotte tries for a chop, Rox grabs her arm and tosses it into the ring post and we play up the hand damage to send us to even more DoorDash commercials.

After those commercials, Charlotte has chopped back control but her hand is in pain. Rox chops at Charlotte in the corner and Flair stares right at her, trying for a choke. Charlotte climbs to thee top and Liv runs Bliss into the ring post as Charlotte lands a fallaway slam on Rox. Charlotte chops with the uninjured left hand. Charlotte gets the walkover clothesline and a boot on Rox for a two, smirking at the kickout. Charlotte climbs the ropes, Liv gets on the apron to distract and it works as Rox pulls Charlotte to the mat. Rox lands a springboard moonsault for a two and this crowd is just not into this match. Rox runs into a boot and Charlotte and Rox do a convoluted series of rollups involving their partners. Charlotte bridges the Figure-8 and Rox has no choice but to tap.

Charlotte Flair defeats Roxanne Perez by submission. This happened. It wasn’t particularly bad, but the crowd did not care and I think everyone saw that the interference was coming.

Je’Von Evans is walking. We’ll hear from him next.

An ad for CM Punk at Fanatics Fest airs. But the internet told me…

Je’Von Evans joins us in the arena for some words with Jackie Redmond. He tells Jey Uso through the camera that he’s putting a belt to his ass and yeeting him out of the competition. He’s interrupted by The Vision (Logan Paul and WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory) in a surprise appearance. Paul tells Je’Von that he is a generational talent and has untapped potential. Theory’s tan is wild. Logan reaches an arm out to invite Je’Von into the Vision. “Hell nah,” replies Je’Von. He’s seen the injury curse. Logan says it wasn’t an invitation, it was a mandate. “Je’Von Evans, YOU’RE IN THE VISION.” Je’Von tells him to back up before he leaves with no arms as Theory echoes that he join the Vision. Evans pulls of his pants and calls for a ref and here’s a ref.

WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory vs Je’Von Evans

After a break, we join the match in progress. Evans leaps over Theory and hits a rana before leaping on the outside onto Theory. The fireflies are out and the fans are singing to Logan. Theory dodges an in-ring dive and we get an extended Theory beat-down. Theory hits Evans to the outside and we go to another commercial. It’s 10:10 and we still have Oba/Dom to go.

We enter our third segment of Austin Theory when we return from break. Je’Von argues with Logan outside, Theory attacks. Evans clotheslines Theory into the timekeeper’s area and runs around the ring before leaping into Theory and the barricade. Evans tosses Theory back into the ring and hits the Red Dot goes up for the OG Cutter, WWE World Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker appearing to spear him and end the match.

Je’Von Evans defeats Austin Theory by disqualification. This was long. The pacing for this show hit a wall when the second Bloodline segment happened.

The Vision attack, the Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) come out for the slow save. I’m sure we have a tag title match incoming.

We go back to the OTC’s locker room. Jacob tells Roman that he handled the problem. Roman tells Jacob that the Usos don’t understand Jacob but he does. “As long as you understand me, there’s no stopping us.”

Next week, we go to London. We’ll have a 2 p.m. ET start time which means I won’t be along with a review until about five hours later. We’ll see the Vision vs Profits for the World Tag Team Titles. We’ll have Lyra Valkyria getting a tag title shot with Bayley against Paige and Brie Bella.

King of the Ring Semifinal Match: Oba Femi vs AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio (with JD McDonough)

Even Corey on commentary is saying that Dom has no chance here. Oba starts making his entrance at 10:27, so you know there can’t be much to this one. Dom is giving us fear on the outside which is very fair. The bell rings and Dom immediately ducks outside and covers his ears for the Oba chanting. Dom comes in and bails again. On our third try, Dom ducks into the corner and then shoves Oba before running. Oba chases and Dom hits a dropkick. Oba catches Dom with a body shot and tossing him over the announce table. Well. JD sneaks up from behind and streaks into the crowd while Dom grabs the bell hammer. Oba yanks Dom back into the ring and JD returns to take a huge fist. Dom low blows Oba and hits the 619 with the hammer in his boot, hitting the frog splash and being thrown off at a one count.

Oba grabs both Judgment Day men for a double chokeslam and smashes both with running uppercuts. Dom stumbles into being pizza tossed across the ring and lands the Fall From Grace for the easy pin.

Oba Femi pins Dominik Mysterio. Exactly what it needed to be. Oba moves on and Dom was a weasel. Femi will face the winner of SmackDown’s Uso/Evans match.

Post-match, Oba has a mic. “One. One match away and then the Ruler will have his crown. We finish it, we tie up all the lose ends, we beat who we need to beat.” He’s surprised Brock didn’t show his face tonight. He questions if Brock is even a man at all. “So what’s your legacy going to be?” He is the mountain Brock can’t climb and the future King. “I will be king and you will just be the man who ran from Oba Femi.” The credits roll and we end our night with the fans chanting for Oba.

A tale of two halves tonight. The show was rolling strong up until we hit our second in-ring Bloodline segment of the night. From there, the pacing just died. We had the Charlotte/Rox match that didn’t really hit, we ran into a string of talking, and then for some reason we had Austin Theory stretched across three segments. Oba/Dom was what it needed to be and brought the crowd back into things, but I felt every second of the hour before. Check out Iyo/Raquel and Gable/Rusev, hit the FF button and catch the end. I promise the Knight/Bloodline stuff will be in replays next week.

Next week, London! See you then!

We’re on Paris time, so it is Afternoon Raw time again for those of us in the U.S. We’re continuing the road to crowning a King and a Queen of the Ring, so let’s see who can find their way into the next round this week.

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / SmackDown / Noche de los Grandes Night Two

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

This is the Eiffel Tower!  This is Paris, France and the Accor Arena. And this? This is Raw live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash.

Arrivals! Penta! Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee! Sol Ruca! Alexa Bliss! Je’Von Evans! 

Oba Femi is first out in the arena tonight to a monstrous response. This crowd is already FIRED up and I almost wish we got international crowds every week. Step up your game, US. They do a very cool shot of Oba’s silhouette over a section of the fans before giving us the split screen entrance again to show fans doing the chant. They’re nailing everything about this man’s presentation. Oba tells the fans they are wonderful and tries to talk, but the crowd cuts him off for another monstrous round of Oba chanting.

Oba says he has a spoiler for the Paris crowd, that being that he will run through the King of the Ring tournament and take his rightful place on the throne as King. “That is not a prediction, that is a spoiler.” He’s taking the crown but he has one more trophy to collect, the head of Brock Lesnar. He promises to settle the score when he sees him.

With monstrous boos erupting, AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio interrupts. Dom tries to talk through the loud Paris crew, calling Oba a rookie. Dirty Dom says he is a twenty-year veteran, the king of the luchadors and as future King of the Ring he will rule over Oba. Dom tells Oba to go ahead and bend the knee and “respect the stache.” The fans have not stopped chanting for Oba. JD McDonough appears behind Oba and nails him with a chair, Oba turns around and punches the chair into JD. Dom hits the distracted Oba with a 619 and leaps off the top, Oba catching him and tossing him across the ring like he weighs five pounds. The Judgment Day boys run and the Oba chants kick up again. Oba: “Dom, you messed up tonight. We all know that Rey Mysterio is your father. Next week, I will introduce you to your DADDY.” Masterful segment that shows just how big Oba is these days and how easily Dom can be reheated.

Corey Graves and Michael Cole greet us from ringside alongside the French announce team Christophe Agius and Nadir Mohammedi. We also have the great Alicia Taylor on the microphone tonight.

Jackie Redmond is back and she’s with Seth Rollins. You can hear the fans chant for Seth from within the arena, something Seth acknowledges, and Seth remembers being World Heavyweight Champion and leader of the Vision last time he was here. He says he’ll win the tournament and take back his title that he never lost. “I have a date somewhere down the line with Roman Reigns, a man that I used to call a brother, a man who can’t seem to win his titles on his own, a man who can’t seem to beat Seth Rollins when it matters most.”

Queen of the Ring First Round Match: Alexa Bliss vs Chelsea Green vs Becky Lynch vs WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan

Hi, can I get Chelsea on Raw more often please? We last saw her in action on Raw in July 2025, teaming with Naomi, Alba Fyre and Piper Niven in a losing effort Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Nikki Bella and Stephanie Vaquer. This is also Liv’s first match since her WrestleMania title win, a great birthday gift for her. Cole reminds us that fellow Judgment Day member Raquel Rodriguez qualified on Friday as the fans sing a birthday song to Liv. Liv dances around to the chant as the other three start the battle. Alexa dives on Becky, Chelsea dives on the blondes, saluting the crowd before Becky shoves her into the ring post and gives her own salute to send us to frozen pizza commercials.

We return to all four women down and the fans chanting for Becky. Bliss sentons onto Becky and Liv and Chelsea offers friendship before booting Alexa of course. A lot of back and forth action and near falls as we continue to go through crowd chants. Becky pounds away at the others and tosses Liv  and Chelsea out, narrowing the battle down for a few to Alexa. Alexa counters a Manhandle Slam as we get a French “this is awesome” chant. Bliss blocks Liv’s Oblivion into a Sister Abigail but Becky breaks it, grabbing Alexa for a Manhandle Slam. Chelsea breaks that up and hits the Unpretty-her on Becky, Liv rolls through that to get the pin. Happy birthday, Liv.

Liv Morgan pins Chelsea Green to advance in the Queen of the Ring tournament. First, I can’t write though how much THIS crowd is elevating EVERYTHING. That said, this was great anyway. All four of these women work very well together. Liv will face the winner of SmackDown’s Ruca vs Valkyria vs Flair vs Cargill match.

Corey hypes up TripleMania 34 tickets and we hype the Mysterio/Penta match we’re getting tonight. Blessed timeline.

Penta is joined backstage by Chad Gable. Gable says he’s done a lot over the last two years he is ashamed of and it all started because he lost to Penta. He doesn’t expect anything from Penta but he apologizes. Penta tells Chad that it isn’t easy to say you’re wrong and he respects that, but there is someone else Chad needs to talk to if he wants to do right by lucha libre.

We get a view of the Atlanta skyline as Cole breaks the news that we have Sunday Night’s Main Event coming in September now that Money in the Bank has again shifted on the timeline.

Rollins is met backstage by Montez Ford. Ford wishes him luck, Rollins thanks him for last week. Jacob Fatu, Big Jim Uso and Main Event Jey Uso pop in to tell Seth to be careful how they talk about the family. Jey says he is winning and Seth congrats him for being in the tournament at least, while Big Jim is on the sidelines “where the Tribal Chief wants him.” Seth tells him he is never talking about the family, his problem is always with Roman. Jey tells Jacob to “get” Seth, Jacob stares Seth down and walks away.

Bayley ding dongs Lyra Valkyria backstage and tells her how excited she is for her. Bayley says to get back what she deserves.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca vs Lyra Valkyria

Lyra is getting her first Intercontinental Title shot in almost a year, having been held down by the stipulation of losing against Becky at SummerSlam. Ruca flips Lyra into an armbar, Lyra flips a reversal of her own as the crowd chants for Sol. Sol handstands across the ring and then flips over Lyra for an X-Factor. Lyra rolls out and Lyra tries for Nightwing, Sol reversing out and springboarding right into another attempt. Lyra flips Sol to the outside to send us to Penta Facetiming with the Cricket mascot.

Back to it! The women continue to match each other counter for counter, finally clotheslining each other down to reset things a bit. The women trade blows before Sol gets the advantage with chops. Sol hits a German suplex on Lyra and heads up to the second rope, nailing a beautiful missile dropkick. Sol smacks Lyra with a running knee and gets a two count as the fans chant about the awesomeness of the match. Lyra boots Sol and drops a leg over the back of her neck before stacking her up for a two count. Lyra misses a spin kick and gets caught up in the ropes, Sol takes the shot for the Sol Snatcher and gets the pin.

Sol Ruca pins Lyra Valkyria to retain the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Very good match. Good showing for Sol but it’s also good getting to see what Lyra can do in a singles spotlight again. Watch this one too.

The Usos and Jacob are backstage. Jimmy tells Jacob they make the plays and Jimmy needs to run them. Jacob yells to them that the only one he acknowledges is their OTC Roman Reigns and they need to worry about L.A. Knight.

Speak of the devil, L.A. Knight walks by Tozawa, Otis and Maxxine Dupri. We’ll hear from him next after about three minutes of commercials and another minute or two of WWE promotional stuff.

Back in the arena, L.A. Knight gets a monstrous reaction just like the rest of the wrestlers tonight. Someone tries to toss Knight a mic, the toss is too low and the fans boo so Knight tosses it back and we get it right the second time. Knight tells the fans that Roman has conned them and whose empire is crumbling, calling this the Bloodline vortex. We love a good vortex in wrestling. Knight expects someone from the Bloodline to come interrupt his KOTR match on Friday. “I don’t fall in line to a Tribal Chief. In this neighborhood, I am the chief.” He says that if he does win, he’ll look Roman right in the eye for the championship. He also knows Adam Pearce would but the stamp right on it because “there is a stark, marked difference” in the way Pearce talks to him and Roman. “I may be unchosen, but every single one of you, you chose me. I chose myself.” He wishes his opponents Friday luck but especially wishes Jey luck in winning without bringing his family to the ring.

This brings us Main Event Jey Uso, the fans yeeting for him. If you’ve been listening to people that tell you Jey isn’t still over, you are listening to the wrong people. In fact, the fans call for an encore, so Jey slams the mic to the mat, calls for the music to run back and yeets again. L.A. Knight: “You don’t possibly expect me to stand here and watch this?” Jey says he’ll always answer his family’s call and tells Knight that this is his warning shot before yeeting to the back. Knight calls for the music to be cut, saying that he knows the yeeting is fun but man to man, you should be protective of your family. “Good luck and from the bottom of my heart – top to bottom – SCREW your family.” Jey rips off his shirt and heads to the ring, Big Jim comes out to pull him away. This was a well done segment. Knight has been hitting it hard and well on the mic the last few weeks.

Chad Gable comes across Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee, asking to talk to them. Mysterio tells him to stop beating himself up. After watching the Mask vs Mask match, he accepts the apology. He’s not one to judge, but Chad might want to look back a little further because he has done some things he might regret way before he put the mask on. Are we getting some American Alpha things? I’d like that.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs WWE Hall of Famer & AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio

The last time these two had a singles match, it was May 2018 and Rey defeated Penta El Zero M on the NEW Wrestling Under the Stars 7 tour in Niles, Ohio of all places. Before that, you have to head back to Lucha Underground in 2016. This is only the third time they’ve had a singles match and Rey has won both of them. The fans sing along with Rey’s theme. Rey tries for an early 619, Penta launches him outside, slides under him and Rey springboard moonsaults right on top of him to send us to break.

We come back to the lucha legends trading chops, Penta sweeping the leg. Penta boots Rey to the mat and drops the corner boots, Rey rolling outside and Penta flying onto him on the entrance ramp. Back in, Penta nails a Back Stabber for a two. Penta unloads a few chops and Rey spins him into a tornado DDT for a two count. Rey gets a sunset flip onto the barricade and we take a break for a Minions commercial. I support the Minion takeover of the last decade or two.

We come back to a sea of reversals, Rey getting out of a Penta Driver before Penta is able to properly hit it moments later. Rey kicks out again as we’re rolling through a fantastic match here, not that there was ever any doubt. Rey springs onto Penta’s shoulders and, hits a poisonrana. Rey springs back up and lands the 619 and drops the dime, getting a very close pinfall attempt. Rey runs into a big super kick and tries for another Penta Driver, Rey rolls it into another 619. Rey heads up top and frog splashes into Penta’s knees. Penta hits the Mexican Destroyer and gets the three.

Penta pins Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship. An easy classic at least on Raw levels. I’d love to see these two do this again on a larger stage. Seek this one out ASAP.

As the luchadors celebrate togerther, Rusev and Ethan Page are here for the attack. Penta eats a kick and Rusev hooks the Accolade on Rey. Dragon Lee’s music hits and he can only help temporarily before Page slings him into the timekeeper’s area. Rusev grabs Rey and yanks the mask off, Penta diving on Rey to cover him like he’s Eddie Kingston in an exploding ring match. Here’s Chad Gable to cheers to suplex Ethan and Rusev. The fans are very into Chad. If you’re looking for a way to get him over post-Americanos, being with Rey and Penta is a safe way to do it. Of course, he could also eventually turn on one of them. Chad grabs the mask and hands it to Penta so that they can re-mask Rey.

Raquel Rodriguez tells us in a vignette that she will blast through Iyo Sky next week to continue her way to Queen of the Ring. I vote for Raquel to win the whole thing and battle Liv at SummerSlam. After an ad break, we get a Iyo Sky vignette response.

We visit the Judgment Day clubhouse with Roxanne Perez and Liv. Rox says she was thinking about herself last week but wants Liv or Raquel to win QOTR, perhaps even facing each other. Dom and JD come in and Liv has some ideas for next week.

King of the Ring First Round Match: Seth Rollins vs Je’Von Evans vs Ricky Saints vs Talla Tonga

Fatal four-way as always, so no DQ and no count out. This is the first Raw match for Talla. Ricky once appeared in a 2018 loss to the Revival. Ricky boots Seth out and Je’Von flips out of Talla’s way before Talla busts out of a springboard stunner attempt. Seth comes in for his face-to-face with Talla, the fans solidly behind Seth at least with the theme song singing. Je’Von comes back in to join up with Seth in trying to take down Talla before Saints pulls Seth to the mat. Saints tries to keep a partnership with Talla, Talla boots him in the face and tosses him to ringside. Talla follows by tossing Je’Von to the outside and our show to another ad break. Even Extra gum is getting into the Raw ad game.

After those ads, Tama is still throwing the other guys around ringside until Saints shoves him into a ring post and Seth dives onto him. Talla grabs Ricky and Seth by the throat and Je’Von FLIES out of nowhere onto him into the timekeeper’s area. With Je’Von and Talla down, we’re back to Seth and Saints in-ring. That lasts briefly because Je’Von bounces back into things, springboarding into a Rollins Pedigree attempt. Evans tries to rana Seth, Seth tries for a buckle bomb that Je’Von rolls through. Ricky stops Je’Von’s flight path and hits the Revolution DDT for his own near fall. Je’Von hits a dive, Seth hits a Pedigree, Talla reappears and tries for the Talla T-Bomb but Seth slips out. Je’Von bounces outside onto all three men and we’ve just got bodies flying everywhere. It’s entertaining, I’ll give it that.

After a replay, three of the men have already recovered and are back in the ring. Rollins and Saints follow Je’Von up top to try to suplex him, Talla comes from behind for the corner power bomb spot but Je’Von lands on his feet, nailing Talla with a kick before running into a clothesline and near fall. Talla clears the American announce table and sets up a chokeslam on Rollins, Je’Von dives onto him and is caught into the chokeslam onto the French announce table before Seth stomps Talla’s head off the table. Seth jumps to the barricade and stomps Talla to the mat before rolling in to try one on Saints, Saints rolls out of the way and tries for his DDT, Seth ducks into the stomp. Rollins looks to be on the way to the count before Austin Theory appears to pull the referee out. I genuinely thought Theory was a fan. He’s very plain looking in street clothes. Montez comes out to battle him off, so Bron Breakker appears to spear Seth because that’s just never, ever going to end. Ricky crawls over for a pin, Je’Von springs in with an OG Cutter and pins him, Seth unable to get the energy to break it up.

Je’Von Evans pins Ricky Saints to advance in the King of the Ring tournament. Again, a really good match. Most of us expected Seth to advance, but he’s stuck in the Vision vortex. It’s worth catching at least the highlights of this one on YouTube as well. Evans moves on to face the winner of Friday’s four-way as the credits roll on Je’Von celebrating in the fans and Seth fuming.

Another really good episode. The Paris crowd elevated everything, but each and every match was very good at the least. Penta vs Rey was the must-see match. I don’t think there was a low point to this episode, probably something helped by minimal Vision stuff. Watch this one. Next week, a brief return to North America for a week before we head to the UK and then Saudi Arabia!

The international tour continues, so Raw is on bright and early in the afternoon in the U.S. After the Clash in Italy, we have some acknowledgement ahead as well as the start of two more tournaments.

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / SmackDown / Noche de los Grandes Night One / Clash in Italy

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

This is Turin, Italy and for the first time, it is hosting Raw at the Inalpi Arena. We’re live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. Here’s a look at Clash in Paris!

Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns arrive and head right on out to the ring because Roman would like some acknowledgement. Perhaps even in a ceremonial form. As we’re in the same place as last night, we have a similar stage setup but without the pillars and with the addition of the King and Queen of the Ring crowns in display cases. We take a good five minutes to get through the intro, so here’s where I point you to our ring announcer tonight, the great Alicia Taylor.

Solid “OTC” chants for Roman followed by our first two fan songs of the night. At the twelve-minute mark of the show, Roman finally speaks. “Acknowledge me.” Jey grabs a mic and says Jacob is late already on his first day of the job. The fans give Jey some yeets and here comes Jacob Fatu. The fans sing for him as well. It’s going to be one of those nights, but it’s always good to have a crowd that is into the show. Roman says we aren’t dragging this out and Jey tells Jacob that he’s moving too slow. Jacob stares down Main Event Jey and snatches his mic. Roman yells at Jacob, “I’m over here.” Jacob tells Roman that he knew what he was getting himself into with Tribal Combat and he has been taking L’s his whole life. He knows his children are going to see him take a loss but be a man of his word. “Last night, I lost to my Tribal Chief, but I didn’t lose to YOUR punk ass, Jey. Roman, I acknowledge you.”

Jacob bows on one knee, acknowledging the OTC and extending his hand. Roman grabs it, pulls Jacob up and tells him that he loves him. Big Jim tells Jacob that he’s with them and this is a warning shot to the entire locker room as Jacob raises the finger of acknowledgement with the OTC and the Usos. Clearly, we have some problems ahead with Jacob and Jey and have many more chapters of Bloodline Saga ahead of us.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside. Cole shouts out Graves and tells us that the Mask vs Mask match from Noche de los Grandes will have an encore presentation after Raw tonight on Netflix. I’m not going to review it because I don’t think I can possibly do a better job of perfectly describing the emotion of it all than Niz did in his review. We also have our Italian broadcast team tonight, Michele Posa and Luca Franchini.

Arrivals! Seth Rollins! The Vision! Sol Ruca! 

Here’s a video package on the King and Queen of the King tournaments and many who have won, from Nia Jax to Cody Rhodes and Kurt Angle to King Booker. The first round begins tonight with fatal four-way matches because WWE can’t do tournaments without multi-person matches nowadays.

King of the Ring First Round Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs Oba Femi vs Solo Sikoa (with Tama Tonga) vs Carmelo Hayes

Cole reminds us that fatal four ways include no DQ and no count outs. You’d think Tama would simply come into the ring with Solo with those rules, but he does not. Melo gets the commercial break entrance while Oba gets the big chants and a split-screen to show fans doing the strut in the crowd. Melo, Solo and Penta all try to attack Oba during his entrance, he knocks them aside and completes the entrance complete with lighting. The bell rings and the trio try to attack again, Oba tosses them all off and delivers running uppercuts to two of them and dodging a spike from Solo. Oba and Solo fight on the ramp to give the in-ring spotlight to Penta and Hayes for a bit. Oba returns to double chokeslam Hayes and Penta and send us to a Wingstop commercial.

After six additional commercials, Penta is chopping away at Hayes. Solo runs in to clothesline them both as we see Femi run in and clothesline him. Hayes hits the First 48 on Oba, Penta gets a kick, and they drive Oba into the ring post. Solo and Tama drive Femi into the ring post two more times and Tama boots him over the barricade. Penta leaps onto Solo on the outside, Hayes leaps mostly over Penta. Hayes ducks a Samoan Spike, Penta grabs Hayes for a Penta Driver that Solo breaks up. Oba rises from behind the barricade and smacks Tama, chops the hell out of Hayes and spinebusters Penta before running back outside and tossing Tonga over the announce table. Femi hits the Fall from Grace on Solo and that’s your pin.

Oba Femi pins Solo Sikoa to advance in the King of the Ring tournament. A wild, fun match, and any worries that Oba’s aura would disappear after losing to Brock disappeared during his entrance. We’re really lucky to be seeing this crazy Oba run as it happens. Oba will face the winner of Dominik vs Bron vs Trick vs Damian. I’m imagining Dom Dom running from Oba.

Oba grabs a mic after the match. “Brock Lesnar, don’t you ever forget it is 1-1.I’ll see you down the line.”

We take a look at the saga of Rollins-Breakker. They’ll battle in the main event tonight.

Sol Ruca heads through the backstage area as we see Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri having their weekly discussion.

The great unbiased journalist Cathy Kelley is in ring to introduce our new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca. Sol gets a good reaction and they’ve added some sing-along “whoaing” to her theme which helps. Sol gets a “you deserve it” chant. Sol believed she could be a champion and so did the fans, so she thanks them. The hard cam is actually shaking from the fans stomping and cheering, which is one of the cooler things to see happen occasionally. Sol says she proved Becky Lynch wrong at Clash in Italy and it isn’t just her saying it. Her work is just getting started because the Intercontinental Championship deserves a fighting champion. Man, this crowd rocks.

Cole takes us to a clip from after last night’s show as Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns cross paths and exchange looks. We go live to Roman and the Usos backstage, Roman telling Jey to stay on Jacob’s ass and show him tough love. Roman looks at his title and tells Jey that he needs him to win King of the Ring and take the other World Championship. “I need you to level up.” Roman tells Big Jim to stay with him because Jey needs to do this on his own.

WWE Hall of Famer & AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee vs Ethan Page and Rusev

Rey takes a position of power and wrestles more than ever. Rusev and Lee kick it off. After a few minutes, the hard cam shakes again as the crowd roars for the possibility of a Rey tag, something spoiled by Ethan pulling Rey off the apron.

After a break, Ethan is still working Dragon away from the possibility of tagging Rey. After several minutes, Rey finally gets that molten hot tag and leaps onto Page with a senton and a flying body press. Rey ranas Rusev to the outside and sets Ethan up for 619. Rusev grabs Rey’s leg so Dragon kicks him. Rey leaps onto Ego’s shoulders and Ethan swings him into a Boston Crab, Lee breaking it with a kick. Lee leaps onto Rusev on the outside and Rey sets up another 619, hitting this one and a Drop of the Dime for the three.

Rey Mysterio pins Ethan Page, Mysterio & Lee defeat Page & Rusev. A great match elevated by a hot, hot crowd. Well worth your time.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce chats with Penta backstage. He tells Penta that he’s working on the Penta-Rey match. Penta leaves and L.A. Knight appears, asking why Pearce goes to Roman’s locker room but won’t ever come to Knight’s. He asks Pearce if he is feeling Ucey and threatens to buy him an Honorary Uce shirt. Pearce bows up at Knight and Knight promises to pull him out of retirement just to put him back in if he doesn’t cool his jets. Pearce points at Knight, Knight grabs his hand, raises it as if Pearce is doing the Roman finger. A good segment! I liked this fire.

We take a look at highlights from the AAA Mask vs Mask match, and I can’t tell you enough to go watch that match if you haven’t already.

Queen of the Ring First Round Match: Iyo Sky vs Giulia vs Roxanne Perez vs Lash Legend

This is Giulia’s first Raw match since May 2025 when she teamed with Perez in a losing effort against Sky & Rhea Ripley. As a fatal four-way, this is no DQ and no count out. They all go after Lash at first, trying for the formula of the opening contest tonight. Giulia hooks a guillotine onto Lash who powers out of it. Lash overpowers Iyo and Rox in the air, Giulia dropkicks them all and yanks Iyo down with a suplex to send us to a break.

Back from the break, Rox has found the advantage and is working over Iyo. That doesn’t last for long as Giulia comes in and Iyo dropkicks them both down. Iyo nails both women with the Bullet Train before Legend ragdolls her into a headlock. With all the women in the corner, Lash power bombs both Giulia and Rox and hits the Lash Extension on Rox. She hooks it on Giulia as well and covers, only for Iyo to leap off with a stomp to her spine. Iyo nails the Over the Moonsault on Giulia for the pin and to move on.

Iyo Sky pins Giulia to advance in the Queen of the Ring. Another good match, not quite as wild as the opener but still very good. Giulia looked great in her Raw spotlight, and I’d love to see her around more often, but it is also hard to bet against Iyo. Iyo faces the winner of Bayley vs Rodriguez vs Jayne vs James.

Pearce talks with Maxxine, Otis and Akira Tozawa. Maxxine is upset she wasn’t in the QOTR bracket despite only winning one match since the Rumble, a Main Event victory over Nikkita Lyons. Otis finally mentions she’s been hanging around Theory and she tells them to trust her.

Hey, here’s a segment about Danhausen and the New York Knicks. What a sentence I am delighted to type and also never expected to type.

Cathy has found Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. Cathy wonders what happens if they cross paths in the QOTR tournament. Bayley thinks they’ll answer that if it happens. Lyra sees Sol Ruca passing by and runs off to congratulate her and remembers that she can challenge again now that Becky doesn’t have it.

Next week on Raw, the tournaments continue until morale improves. On the women’s side we have Becky vs Liv vs Chelsea vs Alexa while on the men’s side it is Je’Von vs Seth vs Ricky vs Talla.

Roxanne Perez is ranting in the Judgment Day clubhouse to WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan, AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio, Raquel Rodriguez and JD McDonough. Liv reminds Rox that she is still family and they take opportunity, with herself and Dom becoming new King and Queen of the Ring. JD and Raquel take offense to this as they are in the tournaments as well.

Seth Rollins vs WWE World Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker (with WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman)

You may recall that Bron has become a World Tag Team Champion by The Vision following Freebirds/New Day rules with Logan Paul’s injury. They brawl to the outside with Rollins leaping onto Bron but being driven over the barricade and four fans who definitely are not also wrestlers.

After another round of commercials, Bron flies into Seth with an elbow on the outside. Bron pounds Seth into the Italian announce table and strips the covering off, clearing the table for chaos. He does the same to the American table just to not show favoritism. Rollins scoops Bron up, Bron slides out and sends Rollins back in the ring. Seth springboards onto Bron and, with the hard cam again shaking, is knocked off the ropes. Bron heads up after him and nails the Frankensteiner for a near fall. As the fans chant about the match being awesome, the battle returns to the outside with Bron leaping from the apron and right into a clothesline for another commercial break.

Seth powerbombs Bron into a two count. Back outside again, Seth drags the ring steps near the announce table and marches up onto them with Bron on his shoulders. Bron escapes again to drive Rollins into the post and back into the ring, this time Seth leaping up for a superplex and rolling through into a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Seth tries for a stomp, Bron hits a spear from a stationary position. Seth rolls out and Bron follows, the fans singing as Bron tosses Seth onto the American announce table. Bron climbs the Italian table and leaps with a spear, falling right into a Pedigree through the table by Rollins. Rollins rolls Bron in and hits another Pedigree, covering for a 2.9 count by referee Chad Patton.

Seth sets up another stomp but here’s Austin Theory, who Rollins clotheslines out. Bron misses a spear, Rollins stomps as Paul Heyman distracts Patton. Theory nails Seth with the World Tag Team Title and Montez Ford comes out in dress pants to fly into Theory and take a nasty spear from Bron. Bron runs into the ring to spear Rollins and again can’t get a three count. The camera shakes again from the fans and they are hot for this just like everything else they’ve seen tonight. Rollins catches Bron with a kick and a stomp but Heyman puts Bron’s foot on the ropes, our favorite thing to do this weekend in WWE booking.

Seth stares a hole through Heyman and heads outside after him. We see a speeding Bron suddenly and Seth dodges, Bron spearing Heyman through the barricade and Cole calling for a coroner. Bron spears Seth but we notice Rollins has the tag championship belt around his waist as he does, taking a page from the Bret Hart handbook. With Bron being out of it, Seth nails another stomp and this time gets the pin.

Seth Rollins pins Bron Breakker. “What a win, what a match, what a show,” Cole calls very correctly. Hell of a TV match, one of the best of the year. Go watch this one.

Post-match, Rollins points towards Ford in appreciation and we roll credits on the fans singing for Seth and a downed Paul Heyman.

We end our Raw broadcast to head into the El Grande Americano vs Original El Grande Americano Mask vs Mask match. They hyped the hell out of the match and this match airing all show and for good reason, it is arguably the best match of the year and if not the last few years. Watch it here and read Niz’s great review of it here.

Hell, go watch this entire episode of Raw. The Italian crowd was HOT and added so much to it, but there wasn’t a bad match on the show. The main event was stellar, the KOTR opener was very good, the women’s match was good as was the tag team match. And after you get done watching the episode, stick around for the Americanos match that is attached to the broadcast.

Next week, we’re in Paris for another early international Raw. I’ll see you then!

Mondays are for Raw and this is no exception. Welcome back to the Raw Review. Thank you to the wonderful Niz for filling in last week and in general being the workhorse of this site. If you haven’t read his reviews, he reviews NXT, Collision, SmackDown and AAA on a weekly basis.

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / SmackDown / Saturday Night’s Main Event / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

It is Memorial Day in the United States and this is the campus of Ohio State University and this is Raw, live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash.

WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman is center ring to start us off because what is Monday Night Raw without this man talking. We can’t have that. He says he is here to hype a match that needs no hype and is interrupted by the Oba chant. He promises Oba will be conquered by Brock Lesnar, which leads us to a prerecorded video from Brock Lesnar. Brock congratulates Oba on his WrestleMania victory but says it is going to cost him. He promises to conquer Oba at Clash in Italy. “I am going to rule over Oba Femi.”

Back in the arena, Paul says all watching will see history play out in real time and Oba was awakened the beast. This brings us an appearance by Oba Femi and all the fan chanting and grunting. Oba corners Heyman and questions what the four F5s last week awakened in HIM. He isn’t going to hurt Paul, he needs him alive and well to tell the tale of Brock Lesnar and his favorite part, when he retires Brock for the second time. He pulls out a piece of paper, signs it, and tells Heyman that this is the final chapter of the story. “Deliver me this message to Brock. Tell him that last time, I was fighting to beat him. This time, I’m fighting to kill him.” Mic drop.

Let’s take a look back at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Arrivals! WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns tosses a birthday gift, Jacob Fatu claps, AAA General Manager & WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio takes a phone call, and The Judgment Day enter with all smiles as Michael Cole says they’re in a terrible mood.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs Je’Von Evans

This is the first time these two have faced off in singles action. If you’ve been keeping track, this matchup was inevitable and I imagine we’re on the road to a four-way with Ethan Page and Rusev. The great Alicia Taylor gives us the championship ring intros. They strut together before Je’Von dropkicks Penta and leaps onto him on the outside. Back in, Penta hits the corner boots and Je’Von checks to make sure he hasn’t lost a tooth. Penta tries for a Penta Driver, Je’Von armdrags out of it and bounces a kick to Penta’s head. Penta rolls out, Je’Von leaps out and Penta tosses him spine-first into a ROUGH looking bump against the edge of the announce table.

We return from a break to see Je’Von kicking out of a pin attempt, being upgraded to alive after that announce table smash. Evans chops Penta, Penta chops back, Evans gets a springboard OG Cutter that only gets him a two count. Penta signals for the Destroyer, giving Evans time to kick him in the face. Wit Penta on the apron, Evans leaps off the top rope and hits a cutter again, again destroying his own back on the apron (the hardest part of the ring!). I’m worried about this kid’s back, I’m not going to lie. Je’Von is caught into a Penta Driver but kicks out at two. They climb to the top and Evans ranas Penta to the mat, then tries for the OG Cutter but falls into a kick. Evans hits a big knee, tries for another Cutter and this time falls into a backstabber. Penta lands the Mexican Destroyer and gets the pin.

Penta pins Je’Von Evans to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Hell of a match with some scary moments for the young bouncy one. Seek this one out.

Penta raises Je’Von’s hand after the match and Evans pulls away in frustration.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside. They let us know that Logan Paul suffered a torn triceps at SNME and will be out several months as the Curse of The Vision continues.

WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory offers his belt to Paul Heyman, not knowing what to do with it now that Logan is injured. Paul tells him that he put “The Vision” defending the tag titles, giving us Freebirds/New Day rules. Paul names Bron Breakker as his new co-champion. He tells Austin that there is a certain man he needs to take out.

We come back from break to Joe Hendry in ring performing “Can We Fire Logan Paul?” WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory appears with a chair and beats down Hendry, the cameras temporarily reverting back to Kevin Dunn-style swinging as Logan swings. Theory smashes Hendry’s head into the ring post with the chair.

Angelo Dawkins is walking backstage and greeted by Seth Rollins, who says he stayed out of their business like they asked at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Seth says The Vision is at their weakest but also most dangerous, so they should come together and put an end to the group for good. Montez Ford comes up and mocks the Rollins redemption story and says nothing good happens when Seth is around. Seth says only one of the three has main evented WrestleMania and it isn’t Ford. Montez counters by saying he’s never stabbed his brother in the back, but maybe the two of them should compete to figure out who is the best tonight.

Next week, we’re in Turin, Italy and Raw will start at 2 p.m. ET. I won’t be as immediate with the review after the show as usual because I’m never home at 2 p.m. on Mondays, but it’ll be up that night.

Rey Mysterio narrates a video package on the history of Mask vs Mask in AAA. A lot of the matches they’re showing clips of have been uploaded by WWE on the AAA YouTube, by the way. Lots of great stuff on that channel. We’ll have the battle of the El Grande Americanos at Noche de Los Grandes this Saturday and Niz will be along here on Blog of Doom with the review.

Penta finds Je’Von backstage. Je’Von apologizes and says he is just in his head, but he’ll see Penta soon for the title. Evans leaves and Rey Mysterio walks up, remembering being Je’Von’s age. Penta congrats Rey on his new job title and Penta wants to face Rey Mysterio.

The Judgment Day (Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez with AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio and WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan) vs Bayley & Lyra Valkyria

At any point in time since I started reviewing this show, you could tell me we’re getting some variation of Judgment Day against Lyra & Bayley and you’d probably be right. We last saw it on Raw on April 27th and before that in October, though these four have interacted in various other matches as well. Raquel and Roxanne attack before the bell rings, then Bayley and Lyra return the favor and we start the match. Corey suggests that Lyra sends Bayley “through the Barber Shop window.” Bayley and Lyra work over Raquel in the corner, though Raquel fights out before we go to commercials.

Back from break, Bayley drops an elbow on Raquel’s back for a two count. Bayley tries to sunset flip Raquel, Raquel turns it into a clothesline and Perez tags herself in. Bayley dodges Pop Rox and Liv grabs a leg to prevent a pin. The ref tosses Liv and things break down at ringside, Lyra rolling Rox up for a two. Bayley tags in and Dom distracts the ref, Raquel pushing Bayley down and Rox nailing Pop Rox though Bayley kicks uot. Rodriguez grabs Lyra and Raquel ranas her out, so Dom jumps on the apron and drops his title in the ring as the referee tries to toss him. Bayley and Rox play tug of war with the belt until Bayley lets go, causing Rox to hit Dom with the title. Bayley rolls up Rox and gets the pin.

Bayley pins Roxanne Perez, Bayley & Valkyria defeat Judgment Day. Well, this happened again and I bet it happens again in the next month or so. It wasn’t bad, it just… keeps happening. It would do Bayley and Lyra a lot of good to take a trip to SmackDown for a while.

Here’s a look at last week’s edition of The Bloodline Saga.

WWE World Champion Roman Reigns is talking with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce, Pearce telling Roman that Jacob shouldn’t even be employed. Roman is shocked Jacob even knew there was Tribal Combat, Jacob apparently not watching Roman Reigns matches prior to this story. Roman says that if Jacob loses, he needs to serve Roman. “If he beats me, good luck because we’re all screwed.”

L.A. Knight is walking and he’ll join us next, but first Michael thanks all veterans and sends us to a Memorial Day video package narrated by Cody Rhodes which leads directly into an Arby’s commercial and then an ad for the new D-Day movie. AMERICA!

Earlier today, The Street Profits and Bayley visited the National Veterans Memorial Museum in Columbus.

L.A. Knight graces us in the arena for some words. He would like to talk to us. He put the Vision in his rear-view mirror at WrestleMania but he’s been thinking about the Usos doing things differently. The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments begin next week and he’s throwing his name in the hat, saying he’s aiming for winning the tournament and a title shot at Roman Reigns. Jimmy Uso interrupts with some thoughts, saying he has a lot of respect for Knight. Knight says Jimmy running alongside Roman rubs him the wrong way and Jim says he gets it and the whole locker room has issues with the Bloodline. Jimmy says that if Knight wins, he gets a fair shot at the OTC and Knight wonders if Jimmy is being honest with himself. Jimmy’s had enough and tells Knight that he is lucky the Yeet Man isn’t here because they wouldn’t just be talking. Knight tells JImmy that this proves his entire point and Jim tells him to treat lightly because disrespecting the OTC might become a problem. Knight thinks Roman can’t get the job done on his own (Knight did not watch WrestleMania) and he promises to take it to Roman if he needs to do so. This could have been an e-mail.

General Managers Pearce and Mysterio talk, being interrupted by Ethan Page. Rusev also interrupts and Page tells Rusev that they’re conspiring against Rusev. Rey says he’ll face Rusev to earn the title shot and Pearce makes it official. Well thank goodness he didn’t have other stuff already planned for the hour of programming left.

Seth Rollins vs Montez Ford

These two last had a singles match on Raw in August 2022. Dawkins does not join Ford for this one. Rollins and Ford battle to the outside early, Rollins diving onto Seth and an in-ring collision to send us to a commercial. They trade in-ring reversals as we return, Rollins suplexing Ford and then rolling it into a Falcon Arrow for a two. They trade pin attempts before Ford hits a superkick and then runs into one from Seth. Ford scoops up Rollins into a Torture Rack, Rollins pulls Ford into a Pedigree for a near fall. Seth yells at Ford that it doesn’t have to be like this and they should be working together. Ford takes this monologue time to slap Seth, so Seth grabs Ford and hits a Buckle Bomb, a second, and Ford flips out of an attempt at a third. Montez does his crazy leap OVER the ring post onto Seth and tosses him back in, going up top and hitting a big frog splash for a near fall. “This is awesome” chant. Ford misses a 450 splash, Rollins gets the stomp and the pin.

Seth Rollins pins Montez Ford. This was very good, it took a bit to get going and get the crowd into it but when they got there, they nailed it.

As Dawkins comes up the ramp to check on his partner, Theory attacks Dawkins with that chair. We get a poor camera angle that shows Theory missing Dawkins’ head by roughly a mile, but that’s on the production crew.

After commercials, Ford is yelling at Pearce. Seth limps up and asks about Dawkins. Ford says with his brother down, he needs Rollins. Rollins tells Pearce that The Vision has to end and he wants Bron as soon as possible.

Cole and Graves run down the Clash in Italy card, announcing that Cody/Gunther and Ripley/Cargill will happen in the first hour that is simulcast on ESPN. We will also have Femi/Lesnar, Rollins/Fatu and Lynch/Ruca on the card.

Cathy Kelley! She’s with WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch. Becky says that Ruca was outmatched at SNME and that Sol hasn’t gotten a clean victory since moving up. She welcomes Sol to the big time.

#1 Contender’s Match: AAA General Manager & WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio vs Rusev

I am thinking we’ll be hearing from Dom sooner than later about how his deadbeat dad is already turning his new position into possible title opportunities, probably on AAA. Ethan Page has joined the commentary team for another first-time singles match. Rey sets up an early 619 and is chopped down by the big man. Ethan explains that he sees Rusev as family. Rusev powers Rey onto his shoulders on the apron, Rey squirms out and hits Rusev with the running sunset flip on the outside as Corey rightfully questions Rey getting title shots as general manager. Rusev slings Rey into the barricade and we take a break.

After the break, Rusev is setting Rey up on the top rope. Rusev tries for a suplex, Rey punches out and knocks Rusev down, nailing a senton. Rey tries to roll up Rusev, Rusev misses a butt splash and Rey hits a seated senton and a springboard splash for a two count. Rey flies into a slam and a kick but is able to kick out. Rey tries again for a 619, Rusev grabs him and tries for an Accolade. Rey however rolls up Rusev for the pin. Rusev continues to not be able to win the big one.

Rey Mysterio pins Rusev to win a shot at the WWE Intercontinental Title. This was good, one of Rusev’s better matches since his return.

Rusev attacks after and Dragon Lee is here to attack Ethan and Rusev and set us up another month or so of tag and singles matches. Yay. Dragon Lee is one of those that I enjoy in the ring, but he’s always the guy that shows up and you know he’s going to be the partner that eventually loses. Just like Rusev!

Pearce yells at Theory and tells him his night is over, which is a nice thing to tell someone at 10:09 on a program that ends at about 10:30 and that leaves early on screen on a regular basis. On his way out, Theory exchanges glances with Akira Tozawa, Otis and Maxxine Dupri, Maxxine deciding to follow Theory.

After hyping the tournaments starting next week but not announcing any matches, Pearce is in the ring with tables and chairs for another exciting main event contract signing. Jacob Fatu is out first, Pearce asking for his signature. Fatu shoves it at Pearce as the crowd chants for OTC. Fatu tosses the chairs and table at security guards, who come in to get shoved around. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns makes his slow entrance, fingers of acknowledgement in the air for the Original Tribal Chief.

As security holds back Fatu, Roman enters the ring and signs the contract as the fans chant “happy birthday” and then sing the Roman, Roman Reigns song. Roman: “Leave us.” Adam questions this and Roman says Jacob can’t touch him until Italy. Pearce calls off security and leaves with them. Roman tells Jacob that if he had simply acknowledged him, they could have moved onto the next mission. Jacob gives him a “hell nah” and says he isn’t like everybody else. He acknowledges that Roman is why his family is on top of the mountain but he could only take them so far. Roman says that if Jacob beats him, he becomes the head of the table. “But if you can’t dog walk me, it looks like I’m gonna be walking you like a dog. I’m gonna domesticate you. If you can’t beat me, you will serve me and you will learn from me and in time, Jacob, you will love your Tribal Chief.”

Jacob says that if Roman does dog walk him, it sounds like he still has a job here. Jacob counters though and if he wins, everybody will learn to acknowledge HIM. He offers a hand, Roman grabs it and they put their heads together in acknowledgement to end the show.

A good episode this week. As always, the matches were quality. Rey/Rusev was good while Je’Von/Penta and Seth/Montez were great. Penta/Je’Von I would especially recommend. We’re spinning circles in the women’s tag division. You may recall that Liv Morgan won the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania and has just existed since then. They don’t need to do much to sell Oba/Lesnar, but they made Oba look like a killer again. The biggest story is the temporary loss of Logan Paul and the attempt to sell Austin Theory as a major threat which is, well, a thing that they’re attempting.

Next up, we have Clash in Italy on Sunday and then we’ll still be hanging in Italy for Raw next week. I’ll see you then!

It must be Monday because we have another Raw on our hands. This week, we leave Backlash behind us and start the two-week build for Saturday Night’s Main Event and three-week build for Clash in Italy.

The last week in reviews: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Impact / SmackDown / Backlash / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, TOGETHER.

Here’s a look at Backlash with headlines from WWE’s preferred media partners such as “Yahoo! Sports” and including videos of internet creators reacting to the show despite going on a mission to ban their videos over the last week.

This is Knoxville, Tennessee, the home of Knox County Mayor and former 24/7 Champion Kane. We’re at the Food City Center, live on Netflix and brought to you by DoorDash.

Arrivals! Paige and Brie Bella! Oba Femi! Iyo Sky! The Street Profits and Joe Hendry! Roman Reigns! The gang’s all here! Roman is met by Raw General Manager Adam Pearce who says Jacob Fatu shouldn’t be here tonight. Roman tells Pearce that he can’t fire Fatu until he acknowledges him. Roman says he’ll do the work of taking Fatu out.

The Vision (Bron Breakker, WWE World Tag Team Champions Logan Paul & Austin Theory, and WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman) are out to chat first tonight. Lilian Garcia is on the intros tonight as Alicia Taylor is out with an illness. Paul says a lot of things including that there is no reason to say the name Seth Rollins ever again. He offers a mic to Theory to air his thoughts. He knows the Street Profits need the tag team championships because Bianca can’t pay the bills and then calls Joe Hendry a nerd.

The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) come out to counter, Ford giving us a “rocky top.” Ford says that somebody had to come to Raw to whoop Vision asses all over Knoxville and tells them that it isn’t about them, they came back to win the championships. The good news is that there are about three tag teams left in the company, so their odds are good. Logan Paul calls the Profits legendary but old news but is cut off by Joe Hendry singing “Can We Fire Logan Paul?”

The Vision (Bron Breakker, WWE World Tag Team Champions Logan Paul & Austin Theory with WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman) vs The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) and Joe Hendry

This is the first match for the Profits on Raw since April 24, 2023, when they defeated Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin. After commercials, we join the match in progress with Dawkins kicking Theory around. Ford tags in as does Breakker, who super speeds through him with a clothesline. Michael Cole notes that this is Breakker’s first Raw match since his loss to CM Punk in January. Hendry catches a leaping Theory and Logan attacks to take him down. Breakker tosses Hendry with a reverse German suplex and we take a fun commercial break to learn about Cricket 5G and The U.S. Navy.

We come back to Hendry and Logan, Hendry getting the hot tag to Ford. Ford crossbodies off the top onto Paul and clotheslines Theory before knocking Bron to the outside and flying onto him. Dawkins lifts Theory up and Paul shoves Ford to the outside to interrupt the double team. Logan tosses Hendry into the stairs, Theory distracts the ref and Bron starts the big run before Seth Rollins knocks him down and Dawkins gets the surprise pin on Theory. Rollins offers a hand to Dawkins and helps him up, Ford sneaks in for the spear and Seth dodges, Dawkins taking the spear instead. Ford and Rollins get into a shoving match because Ford missed what happened.

Angelo Dawkins pins Austin Theory, Street Profits & Hendry defeat The Vision. This was good, a good little opener. I appreciate the Profits (well, Ford at least) getting to talk to the crowd.

Pearce talks with Original El Grande Americano and questions the names of Bruto and Julio, having missed last week apparently. Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio come in to question what’s the plan for Dom. Original EGA doesn’t appreciate the interruption and Dom tells him that he isn’t even a real luchador. Pearce decides that Dom will be defending his AAA Mega Title on Raw. As Pearce walks away, he’s met by Angel and Humberto who want an opportunity. Okay, now we have four tag teams.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta has joined us in the ring to share some thoughts. He thinks Ethan Page should come out and say things to his face. Ethan Page grants the wish and joins us, mocking Penta for painting his chin and hiding the rest of his face under a mask. Page tells Penta that he doesn’t hide who he is and reminds him that he pinned him last week, which he believes would make him #1 contender. Penta thinks right now would be a good time, but Ethan tells him to hold his horses and pump the breaks. Ethan thinks the title deserves a spotlight, perhaps on May 23rd at Saturday Night’s Main Event. The music of Rusev interrupts. He tells Page that he should get the title shot first and threatens Page. Je’Von Evans joins us to say “whoa” many times and it all breaks down, Je’Von flying onto Rusev and doing the strut with Penta to send us to commercials. Meh.

Rusev vs Je’Von Evans

We come back from break to this match being a thing that is actively happening, a first-time singles match. “Rusev sucks” chants from the crowd as he dominates Evans, a very rude thing to chant on Rusev Day. Evans bounces a rana from the top rope and runs right into Rusev’s right hand, so Rusev throws Evans onto the announce table with a fall-away slam and we head to another break. We’re really dragging things out tonight. Did you know “Naked and Afraid” is STILL a show? It apparently is!

Back to this match. Evans dodges a running Rusev, nails him with a superkick and a kick to the back of the neck. Evans springboards into a two count but we get ANOTHER Rusev comeback. Rusev kicks for a two and Rusev emotes “frustration” and calls for the Accolade. Evans kicks away, knocks Rusev to the outside and leaps over the top rope onto him before tossing him in, hitting the OG Cutter and getting a three.

Je’Von Evans pins Rusev. There was no real need for this to be two segments (stretching to three including the promo segment before it).

Celebrities! They love WWE! Tennessee Volunteers football players! And, well, that’s all we’ve got for you because all of the WWE-favored comedians were at the Kevin Hart roast.

Corey Graves narrates a video about the AAA Mega Championship and some of its former holders.

Iyo Sky is stretching and met by Asuka who gives her a hug. Asuka tells Iyo that she was waiting for someone to take her position, that she is proud of her and Iyo says they’ll always be family. “Goodbye, Asuka-san.” Asuka hugs her and gives her a forehead kiss. As Asuka rolls off with her luggage, Iyo waves. See you later, Asuka.

BRIE MODE. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Brie Bella and Paige join us for a chat. Brie tells us that they’re answering Judgment Day’s call from last week and Paige is ready for a fight. The Judgment Day (Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez) are here with some comments, welcoming the champs to their show. Rox remembers watching the champs on TV back when they were young and relevant. “Brie, don’t you remember meeting me as a little girl? You told me that I was going to carry on the Bella legacy.” Rox says the Bella legacy is a low bar and she wanted Rox to start her own legacy and not be a footnote for the Judgment Day. Raquel says Paige has been given a million chances and fumbled every one of them. “We’re all just waiting for your next big scandal to hit.” Paige slugs Raquel and the brawl is on when WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan pops up and hits a Codebreaker on Paige. The deck is stacked too high and the Judgment Day women stand tall and hold all the gold above their heads. Well, I guess that’s a match we’ll be seeing on one of the next two big shows.

Big Jim Uso joins Roman Reigns in the OTC’s dressing room, telling Roman that Jey is in the parking lot waiting for Jacob. Jim tells Roman that they should just move on and Roman says no, there has to be order here and that they have to be men of their word. Jacob has to acknowledge him. Jimmy gets it but he has a funny feeling.

Here’s a multi-camera promo video complete with video highlights of Dominik Mysterio and threats towards Original EGA, shot and edited somehow in the hour since the match was set up.

NXT Origins focuses on the rise of Rhea Ripley.

Iyo Sky vs Sol Ruca

This could be a big one. Cole notes that it would be a good night to take advantage of Sky as she is extra emotional. He also says that Ruca said he is honored to be a part of the longest episodic show in history, something Ruca has probably never said in her life because nobody talks like that. It’s a scientific match to start with the women having counters for each other, including Sky dodging a Sol moonsault attempt before taking her down with a rana on the outside. Sol does a wild corkscrew off the ropes onto Iyo on the outside to send us to a break.

We’re back in the ring when we return, Iyo hitting a Spanish Fly off the top rope on Ruca for a two count. “This is awesome” chant. Ruca tosses Iyo up and spins her into a Blue Thunder bomb and Sol’s looking really good here. Iyo missle dropkicks Ruca and takes forever to set up the Bullet Train, giving Sol a chance to dodge. Iyo rolls Sol into a stomp but can’t get a three count on it. Sol nails a tornado DDT from the top rope for a near fall and we get a second “this is awesome” chant. Iyo’s able to hit the Bullet Train and calls for the Over the Moonsault, landing on Sol’s knees. Sol tries for a Sol Snatcher, Iyo dodges and rolls Sol into a pin.

Iyo Sky pins Sol Ruca. A really good match. Iyo was a great match for Sol to show off (and guide Sol a bit) and I liked the veteran outsmarting the newcomer. Go back and watch this one.

Corey Graves and Michael Cole greet us from ringside and take us back to highlights of the post-match attack at Backlash by Jacob Fatu.

Main Event Jey Uso is pacing in the parking lot. Big Jim finds him and tells Jey that maybe Roman is a little delusional. They agree Jacob won’t acknowledge the OTC. Jim says he’s going out with the OTC and wishes Jey luck with Jacob.

Here’s a look at John Cena appearing at Backlash to announce the John Cena Classic, something that will happen at some point in the future. The commentators announce that The Vision will defend their belts at Saturday Night’s Main Event against the Street Profits.

Jackie Redmond talks with those Street Profits. Seth Rollins interrupts and tells them that they should talk. Angelo’s into the idea, Ford is totally against it. Ford says they don’t need him to win the gold. I could see this leading to a six-man at Clash in Paris.

Iyo finds Sol backstage and tells her that she is the future. Sol turns around into WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch, saying that she couldn’t even beat Iyo Jannetty. “I guess those lights were too bright.”

Oba Femi is out for his Open Challenge, popular as ever. The voice of Adam Pearce interrupts, getting booed. Adam says that nobody back there was willing to answer so he’s here to say the Open Challenge is cancelled tonight. Oba storms past Adam and says he can’t do his job. Oba grabs Angel backstage and tosses him into a mirror. Oba grabs Humberto and carries him to the ring while dragging Angel out.

Oba Femi Open Challenge: Oba Femi vs Angel & Humberto

Oba beats the hell out of both men. Oba hits a Fall from Grace on Humberto and gets the pin. This was the first Raw match for Humberto and Angel since May 2023 when they both lost an Intercontinental Championship #1 contender’s battle royal to Mustafa Ali. Besides Ali, other participants no longer in the company include Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Cedric Alexander, Dexter Lumis, Dolph Ziggler, Elias, ma.ce, man.soor, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, Riddick Moss, Shelton Benjamin, Von Wagner and Xyon Quinn. A lot can happen in three years. Anyway, who knows if we’ll see Angel and Humberto again after this destruction on Raw or if they’ll head on back to Main Event.

Oba Femi pins Humberto, Femi defeats Angel & Humberto. Nobody wanting to challenge Oba and Oba going to find some opponents is fun.

Original El Grande Americano has also found the time to film a well-edited video package about tonight’s match since the match was signed.

Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonough are walking and Finn Balor appears to attack JD, tossing him aside and telling Dom it looks like he’s got to go it alone.

AAA Mega Championship: AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio vs Original El Grande Americano

This is the first defense of the AAA Mega Championship on Raw and only the third defense since Mysterio won the title in September. After some back and forth, Dom springs Americano off the apron and head-first into the ring post to send us to our “let’s get ready to DoorDash” commercial.

After break, EGA dodges a 619 and hits a moonsault for a near fall. Dom gets a Michinoku Driver for his own near fall as Graves wonders what the other Grande Americano thinks about all of this. EGA hits a big bridging suplex and heads up top and sure enough, here are Rayo & Bravo Americano to distract the referee as El Grande Americano cheap shots Original EGA. Bruto & Julio come out to take care of the lesser Americanos as Original EGA yanks at EGA’s mask, Dom spinning in with a 619 and a frog splash to retain.

Dominik Mysterio pins Original El Grande Americano to retain the AAA Mega Championship. This was really good. They were hitting hard and the chaos was a good way to keep things on Dom until we move past the mask match.

Next week, we’re in Greensboro for Raw. We’ll have Paige and Brie defending their belts against Raquel & Roxanne and Oba Femi’s Open Challenge will again be open.

Theory and Paul are walking and met by Jackie. Logan wishes she would go away and says if he has to hear the Hendry song one more time, he’s going to Vincent Van Gogh himself. As they get in the car, we see Maxxine Dupri sitting inside.

WWE World Champion OTC Roman Reigns is here for our Acknowledgement Ceremony to close the program, accompanied by Big Jim Uso. We see Jacob Fatu pull up on the video wall, storming past Main Event Jey Uso who is telling him to think about things. Jey shoves Jacob and yells at him to listen, Jacob headbutts him and yells to the camera that Roman is going to have to beat the acknowledgement out of him.

Jacob makes his proper entrance into the arena and is met mid-aisle by Jimmy. Jacob tosses Jimmy as well and we’re down to Roman. Fatu heads into the ring and the fight is on. Fatu clotheslines Roman to the announce position before running into a Superman Punch. Roman grabs a chair and heads back in, smashing it over Jacob’s back repeatedly and yelling for acknowledgement. Roman continues beating down Jacob and lines up for the spear, Jacob superkicking him and hooking the Tongan Death Grip and sending him over the top. Fatu leaps onto Roman and drives him into the ring post. The fans chant for tables. Jacob tries to oblige by stripping the announce table and Roman Superman Punches him. He tries for another but the Tongan Death Grip hooks on again, Fatu power bombing the Tribal Chief through the announce table. The suits finally come out and Fatu hooks the grip again. Fatu grabs the belt in the ring and licks it, holding it above his head to end the episode, or so we think before Jacob goes FLYING to spear through Roman and both Usos and the barricade in a wild looking spot.

Killer closing segment. They’re doing all the right things to make Jacob look like an absolute killer. It makes you wonder what they can do to stop him, but I imagine we’ll have plenty of Bloodline drama to come.

This episode started very slowly for me. The first hour didn’t connect. Iyo/Sol was a big turning point and it was all a blast from there. Oba and Jacob continuing to carve their own destructive paths, the saga of the Americanos, and the Bloodline drama were all enjoyable watches. I’d say skip that drag of a first hour and head to the women’s match as a starting point.

After the long drag of the Road to WrestleMania, we’re on the quick road of three big WWE-branded shows in one month, with Backlash, Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash in Italy all happening before the month ends. We have a lot to build, so let’s see what kind of building we have.

It’s Monday night and time for another edition of Raw. I hear a rumor that if you say his name… I guess we’ll see.

After being back in the saddle again, we’ve finished the Road to WrestleMania and now we’re on the Road to Backlash. This all begins with the annual big Raw After WrestleMania, often the biggest Raw of the year. We’ll have all of the WrestleMania fallout, some big surprises, and more fans singing than we usually have.

If you’re making a visit in the mass of Mania weekend traffic to Blog of Doom, consider sticking around! We have Scott Keith at the top of the page, but we also have a great crew of writers that cover every big WWE, AEW and TNA show going on seven days a week as well as lots of retro content. Even Maffew from Botchamania is here! I should’ve led with that, really. Hop in the comments, discuss what’s going on and have some fun.

The last week in the WWEverse: Raw / The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels / NXT Revenge Week 1 / Evolve / Impact / SmackDown / WrestleMania Saturday / WrestleMania Sunday

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Here’s a video recap of Mania involving quotes from WWE favored news sites and Internet reactors.

This is the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. Tonight, Roman Reigns! Liv Morgan! Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky! A look back at the non-controversial parts of Brock Lesnar’s career!

Oba Femi is the first face we see in the arena tonight, strutting to the ring in some snazzy business wear and getting a solid few minutes of chanting before he can speak. “The ruler has arrived.” Mic drop. And that’s all he needs to say. A total star.

The Kabuki Warriors greet us via vignette, Asuka promising to always be Iyo’s senpai. Tonight, they’ll remind Iyo and Rhea that they are nothing.

WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky vs The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane)

As always, the noise for Rhea is something wild. Mark Nash is on the ring announce call tonight, giving Alicia Taylor a night of vocal rest after two days of announcing WrestleManias like a boss. Iyo and Kairi start things off, Kairi grabbing the hair and slamming Iyo to the mat. The fans chant for Rhea. Kairi ranas Iyo down, celebrates and is rolled up as she tries for Asuka’s approval. Iyo drops Kairi spine-first on her knee and gets the hot tag to Mami. Rhea smacks Kairi down with a dropkick and Asuka is tagged in, shoving Rhea. Asuka and Rhea trade blows until Rhea smacks Asuka down with a big kick. Asuka is knocked into the referee, giving Kairi the chance to interfere before tagging in. Kairi hits a wild In-Sane Elbow to the outside to take us to our first “diving to the outside, replay, commercial” sequence of the evening.

We come back to Rhea kicking her way over to tag Iyo while Kairi gets to Asuka. Kairi comes in for a kick, but Iyo dodges the kick and directs it into Asuka instead. With the Warriors in the corners, Iyo offers three Bullet Trains before kicking Asuka down for a near fall. Rhea kits the Razor’s Edge and Iyo hits a missile dropkick, Asuka still able to kick out. Rhea tries for Riptide and Asuka wiggles out, double-teaming Rhea with Kairi instead. Iyo dives outside on Asuka. Rhea hits the Riptide on Kairi; Iyo lands the Over the Moonsault for the three count.

Iyo Sky pins Kairi Sane, Ripley & Sky defeat the Kabuki Warriors. A very good match, which is not shocking with the four performers in it. A very hot match to start off Raw and continue our very slow burn of Asuka, Kairi and Iyo.

Would you like a set of WrestleMania highlights set to “Back in the Saddle” in case you didn’t hear the Aerosmith song the previous 859395 times over the last five months? Here you go.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce congratulates WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta on the big win last night. Je’Von Evans steps in to tell Penta he’s not going anywhere. Penta tells him they’ll steal the show again but his title isn’t going anywhere either because he’s Penta. After Penta leaves, Pearce introduces “Raw’s newest superstar” Ethan Page. Ego has arrived! He wants the Intercontinental Title and Pearce sets up a match tonight. Very excited for having Ethan on Raw, really.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside. The Spanish announce team has joined us as well with Marcelo Rodriguez and Jerry Soto. Big night! SmackDown’s Royce Keys is in the crowd as well.

CM Punk walks through the Gorilla position, looking a little worse for wear, before joining us in the arena without his music or trons. He steps out on the stage and surveys the crowd, taking in the chants, and declares it clobbering time as “Cult of Personality” kicks in. You might just notice the bruising across is face as he takes in the “CM Punk” chants. He tells us about the loss he’s suffered over the last months, including his MMA trainer, Larry, Kerwin Silfies, Jim Shanks, David Coates, and Bo Lueders most recently. He says all of those losses sting more than losing his title last night and the crowd has helped him heal and get through the losses. “Thank you for helping me process all this grief. You all helped me get through all of those losses. Something tells me you are all going to help me get through my loss from last night.”

He stayed ready and poured his heart and soul into all of this, an opportunity popped up and he became World Heavyweight Champion. He’s smiling now because “I’m still the best in the world, the baddest ass.” He lived his dream on the Mania stage and proved himself, giving everything he had. He’s not going home, he’s not going on vacation, and you never know when a championship opportunity will fall out of the sky.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes limps out on stage, taking off his sunglasses to reveal his gnarly eye injury, and joins Punk in the ring. Cody was standing by watching backstage and Punk jokes that Cody thought he was going to crash out. Cody: “Yeah.” Punk: “That’s fair.” Cody says he isn’t sure what to do because he’s the one feeling like a loser. Punk doesn’t feel like a loser and jokes about his marshmallow on a stick tattoo. He tells Cody that he beat a first ballot Hall of Famer, a friend who was his mentor. “I fought somebody I hate, that’s easy to stomp him in his stupid face and make fun of his sweet pepper necklace. You fought a friend, that’s a real challenge.” Punk tells him to keep winning while his path is staying ready, looking down at the belt, “because you never know when a championship opportunity is just going to fall out of the sky.” As he leaves, Cody gives him the “Hey Punk, just say when.” A good segment.

Finn Balor talks to us through a vignette about Dom bringing out the Demon and the Demon putting Dom down. He’s not finished with Judgment Day

WWE Intercontinental Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Ethan Page vs Je”Von Evans

These two had three televised singles matches while on the NXT roster, Ethan winning the first two and Je’Von winning the New York City Street Fight at Roadblock ‘25. After some bounciness from Je’Von, Ethan smacks Je’Von with a right and covers for two. Evans flips over Page and hits a dropkick, ranaing Page and springing to the outside on him and going to a commercial.

Evans springboards onto Ethan as we return for a near fall. Ethan flips Je’Von off the ropes and into a power slam for a two. Je’Von flips over Ethan outside and still tosses him into the ring post  Je’Von sets up Ethan on the announce table but here’s Rusev to attack. Je’Von fights him off and tries to bounce, Ethan knocking him down, landing the Twisted Grin and getting the three count. Ethan wins his Raw debut. Rusev attacks Je’Von after the match and Ethan heads out because this doesn’t involve him. WWE Intercontinetal Champion Penta runs out to the rescue and goes up to leap off Rusev, Page returning to knock him down. Rusev hits the kick and Page claps for him. Perhaps we have a new pairing.

Ethan Page pins Je’Von Evans. This was a good introduction to the Raw crowd for Ethan and hey, they might’ve even found something for Rusev to do.

Rusev poses with Penta’s championship as some fans chant “Rusev Day.”

Cole and Graves plug the Hulk Hogan documentary; something those viewing WrestleMania on Netflix saw almost every commercial break for two days.

Celebrities! They love Raw! Tyrese Haliburton! Funny Marco! WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Paige and Brie Bella alongside Nikki Bella!

Trouble, trouble. New WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan heads out with AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez, taking in applause before a round of boos and then a “you deserve it” chant. “Las Vegas, that is the smartest thing y’all said all day because you are now in the presence of the greatest Women’s World Champion of all time.” There are some people she’d like to thank, starting with her Judgment Day family for being her rock. Secondly, she thanks Stephanie Vaquer. “We beat the hell out of each other but she reminded me of a feeling that I haven’t felt in a long time.” This is her ring, her division, her show and her Women’s World Championship. She promises to be messier than before as the music of Sol Ruca surprises the crowd.

Sol tells Liv that Liv is the top woman in the division and deserves this. Liv thanks her but says she has SOME nerve for interrupting her celebration. Since Sol was so nice to her, she’s going to be nice to her. “You are no Liv Morgan, sweetie, but I will give you a chance right now to save yourself.” She tells Sol to get out of her ring, Sol says she didn’t come out to pick a fight but she’s not backing down from one. The voice of Adam Pearce interrupts as he does, calls out Jessika Carr and makes it official. And by right now, we mean as we mean after a commercial break.

WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan (with Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez) vs Sol Ruca

This is Sol’s Raw debut, her last WWE-branded match was the Rumble match, prior to that was defeating Bayley on Saturday Night’s Main Event. This is non-title. Back and forth to start, Ruca flipping Liv into an X-Factor before flipping out onto Liv on the outside. Guess what happens after that? If you guessed a replay and a commercial break, you cracked the formula that Raw has used three times now on the same program!

After our required mid-match commercial, Liv hits Sol with Two Amigos before Sol reverses the third. Ruca hits an uppercut and a nice German suplex before heading up to the second rope, hitting a beautiful missile dropkick and then a running knee for a near fall. Sol counters Oblivion and takes Liv down with a Sol Snatcher, Liv smartly rolling out of the ring after. Sol backflips out onto all three Judgment Day women to “holy shit” chants. Sol tosses Liv in and Zaria appears to attack as Carr checks on Liv and misses everything. That damn Zaria (Sol deserves it, for those following that relationship). Carr starts the count on Sol, Sol rolling back in at nine and right into Oblivion for the three count.

Liv Morgan pins Sol Ruca. A great showcase for Sol Ruca who is going to be a big deal on the main roster if she can avoid injury. This one is worth you seeking it out. If you’re just being introduced to Sol, prepare to seek out a lot of her matches.

As Liv leaves, the music of Stephanie Vaquer brings out the former champ. Liv struts right up to her and they have a staredown, Liv smiling as she raises her belt.

Celebrities! They love Raw in this part of the show too! Here’s Fabolous! Here’s Maino! Dave East! Jim Jones!

Here’s a look back at the parts of Brock Lesnar’s career that did not involve piss allegations.

The Vision (WWE World Tag Team Champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory with WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman) are our next crew out for a chat with the live crowd. Ladies and gentlemen and such from Paul, who tells us his favorite part of Mania has always been expecting the unexpected. Yesterday was a moment so unexpected that it’ll live inside his heart for the rest of his life. The production team still has Brock in the “now” part of the beginning package and he yells that the “stupid bitches” in the production team can’t take what happened yesterday, yelling at them to move him from “now” to “forever.” He passes us on to Logan Paul.

The fans are not down for letting Logan talk, though Logan tells us he’s tired of YouTubers coming into his business and doing what wrestlers do. “I hate these outsiders!” Okay, that’s kinda funny. Paul thanks Gunther for doing the favor that he did and realizes he owes him one any time he’s ready. Hmm, wonder what that could be and if it could happen in Minnesota for SummerSlam. He welcomes back Bron.

Bron Breakker rejoins us, coming back to a show that has had Oba Femi appear and rise as the show’s biggest new star in his absence. A year ago today he became the leader of the Vision in this very arena because Seth Rollins was too weak. He’ll be coming after Seth every day for the rest of his life. Seth Freakin’ Rollins appears with a chair for the attack but the Vision quickly outnumber him.  The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) are here for the save. Okay, that’s cool. The fight into the crowd with the tag champs, leaving us a suddenly very bloody Bron trying to spear Seth who stops it with a superkick. Seth tries for a stomp, Breaker hits the spear. Bron has a big cut on the back of his head from the chairshot. He sets up Seth for one more spear. Who can stop Bron? A good segment that re-establishes Bron and gives the tag champs something new to do. I liked it.

JD McDonagh speaks via vignette about how Finn has changed, let CM Punk get in his head, and left his friend behind.

WWE U.S. Champion Trick Williams is at ringside, getting the big “whoop that trick” chant.

Finn Balor vs JD McDonagh

The two former friends fight right into the crowd, JD tossing Finn into the timekeeper’s area and Finn clotheslining him back to ringside. Finn catches a kick and heads up top, JD rolling out of the way and knocking Balor outside. And here’s a commercial break including WrestleMania host John Cena telling us about the perks of Chime and the endless barrage of Walton Goggins talking about Walmart.

Finn’s mouth is bloodied as we return, the blood raging tonight. Finn slingblades JD and signals for his kick, JD moving and nailing him with a headbutt that gets a near fall. Finn’s able to hit the kick and the Coup de grâce for the pin. AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio attacks after the match but Finn tries to drop on him too, JD saving his partner.

Finn Balor pins JD McDonough. Another good match in a series of them. It’s good to have face Finn back, legs out and all. This gives Dom a Raw mission while he continues his AAA story as well.

Jackie Redmond is with a smirking Gunther backstage. He feels fantastic after his WrestleMania victory and Jackie wonders if he knew Bron would be there. He reminds us that Heyman owes him a very big favor and that the World Heavyweight Championship will be around his waist soon. L.A. Knight comes up to talk to him and says he knows Gunther isn’t the only one with his eyes on the title.

Next week, we’re in Laredo, Texas. WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch will be here and… did someone say his name? Joe Hendry in concert. “He’s on Raw for good now, I think,” announces Cole.

Rhea and Iyo are sad backstage. “I guess that’s it.” Somewhere, Cathy Kelley is celebrating that Iyo is finally getting out of her way. Rhea passes by Liv, who says she’ll see her around.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns steps out of a car and heads to Gorilla as the fans chant “OTC.” Main Event Jey Uso and Big Jim Uso meet him in Gorilla for a handshake and he waves them out with him. The big three are back, friends.

Roman asks for and receives acknowledgement from the Vegas crowd. He was going to keep it simple tonight but then he ran into his cousins and thinks they should discuss some family business. “I miss this.” Jey yeets. “I miss having y’all’s full trust. I miss having y’all’s full love and admiration. I miss doing business with you guys.” Separated, people like CM Punk and “some rapper from the 90s” can attack them. He tells Jey he’s the Yeet Man and changed the environment and now he has washed rappers running their mouths to him. He remembers running the business together for four years straight. “I’m not asking you to serve me. I’m just asking you to be my blood and stand with me.”

Big Jim waits out some chanting and says Roman will always be their Tribal Chief. Jey tosses down his mic to raise the fingers with Jimmy and Roman when familiar music hits and out walks Jacob Fatu. Roman says he hasn’t seen him for a while and there could only be a few reasons he’s here, assuming it is for acknowledgement. Jacob: “Nah, that ain’t it.” Roman: “I guess it’s because you want this.” Jacob says he doesn’t want that title, he NEEDS that title. “And to be clear, I’m not out here to be Tribal Chief. But I NEED everything that the Tribal Chief has. I need the private jets, I need that Rolex, I need more vehicles, I need a bigger house, I need to put MY children in better schools and I’ll do anything for my family, even if I have to go through you. At Backlash, I’m upgrading. At Backlash, I’m levelling up my household. And at Backlash, you’re gonna know that Jacob Fatu is all gas, no breaks.”

The fans chant “Fatu.” Roman tells him he agrees and he wants all that for Fatu too. He wonders if Fatu could handle the burden of the title or if he can handle the burden of having to acknowledge him. He’s giving Jacob the week to think about it. He’ll see him next week on Raw. Roman drops the mic and walks off, the Usos following and Roman telling Jimmy to talk some sense into him.

Hell of an ending promo and it’s as good a time as any to give Jacob the big shot.

It’s the post-Mania Raw and it all delivered. Every match was good (JD-Finn was probably the weakest but still good). Oba looked like the rock star he is. Ethan Page weaseled his way to a Raw win, Sol Ruca got the “holy shit” chants, and the Jacob push to the main event kickstarted. I’d recommend this one from top to bottom. On a day when many of us are exhausted from the amount of wrestling we watched this weekend, this was a very easy watch that didn’t feel like two and a half hours of action. Highly recommend this one.

We did it, friends. We’ve made it to the last Raw on the long, long Road to WrestleMania. Take this as a reminder to pace yourself this week. We have a LONG stretch of content this week. It’s okay to take breaks, it’s okay to watch things later, and it’s okay to not watch things at all if you need to take a break from wrestling.

Before we jump into it, let me plug something else! Peacock and WWE released their newest annual documentary, “The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels,” this morning as they do around every Mania. I have written a review and it’ll be up tomorrow morning right here on the Blog of Doom, something I’ll probably come back and link to right here. It truly is a GREAT documentary and I’m excited for you to read the review.

The last week in the WWEVerse: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Impact / SmackDown / Rebellion / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

We begin with the face of Roman Reigns in a vignette. CM Punk tried to revise the Tribal Chief’s history but the WWE Universe lived through it all. Unfortunately it also includes Pat McAfee. Roman says a punter has never run his mouth to him and that nobody believes in Punk because it isn’t 2012. He’s giving Punk the chance in the main event tonight to tell the truth or he will do it. “This message has been approved by your Tribal Chief.”

Arrivals! CM Punk is sitting in the locker room. Stephanie Vaquer is here. Charlotte Flair meets Alexa Bliss and will battle Lyra Valkyria tonight. Gunther smirks.

You are looking at The Golden1 Center in Sacremento, California. This is Monday Night Raw with nearly 12,000 fans live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. Here’s a look back at the attempt at a contract signing last week between Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce and the center of our universe WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque are in the ring with the contract. Adam has decided to have the men sign the contract separately which is something he probably should’ve done weeks ago. WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman interrupts as he does. He introduces us to Brock Lesnar as we are reminded that Brock and Oba will open Night Two and will be broadcast on ESPN. Brock signs, Points To Sign, and Paul calls it a Nigerian death warrant for Oba. Brock: “You won’t even know his name after this weekend!” Brock leaves and we’ll see Oba later tonight.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside and Corey thinks something funny might happen tonight in this situation. We catch up on the iShowSpeed story. This takes us to a taped segment with iShowSpeed and WWE World Tag Team Champions The Vision (Logan Paul & Austin Theory). Logan tells Speed that he’s a wrestler now whether he likes it or not. Theory tells him to lock in. They do some cinematic training together in the darkened NXT Arena. They’ll kick off Night One live on ESPN2 against The Usos and L.A. Knight.

Charlotte Flair (with Alexa Bliss and Lilly) vs Lyra Valkyria (with Bayley)

The great Alicia Taylor is our ring announcer tonight. I had not been paying attention enough to notice that Lilly was with Alexa again. Bliss defeated Bayley on SmackDown due to shenanigans, and I’d imagine we see more shenanigans tonight. Cole notes Nikki Bella is still rehabbing and hoping to be ready for WrestleMania, so I guess we’ll see where that goes. Lyra shoves Charlotte and she responds with a Flair chop. Flair flops over the top rope and tries to boot Lyra, who kicks her to the outside and misses a dive on her, Charlotte booting her as the fans “woo” and we take an ad break, including one for former WrestleMania participant Bad Bunny on Spotify.

As we return, Charlotte is pulled off the second rope by Lyra for a near fall. Lyra takes time to pose and tries for a moonsault, the wasted time giving Charlotte time to lift her knees. Charlotte boots Lyra in the chin and hits a moonsault, Lyra kicking out of the pin attempt. Lyra snags Charlotte for a good fisherman suplex and pin attempt. Bayley Points To Sign to remind Lyra what this is all about. Charlotte tosses Lyra onto Bayley and rolls her back in. Charlotte rolls up Lyra, Bayley grabs Charlotte’s leg and Lyra rolls Charlotte into a three. As you’d expect, the four women push and shove a bit after the match.

Lyra Valkyria pins Charlotte Flair. It was fine. I’d like to see it again one day. I was a bit surprised to not see the other two teams.

L.A. Knight and The Usos (Big Jim and Main Event Jey Uso) talk about Speed when up walk The MFTS (Solo Sikoa, JC Mateo, Talla Tonga and Tonga Loa). Solo tells the Usos they’re making the family look bad by hanging out with Knight. Knight pitches the idea of three of Solo’s squad facing them tonight, yeah.

Cole sends us to a sneak peak of the Hulk Hogan docuseries coming to Netflix which I’ll probably be reviewing because I’m a sucker for a documentary and I think the comments section will be something special.

WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer joins us in the arena for a chat for unbiased journalist Cathy Kelley. Shoutout to Cathy! Speaking of Cathy, she’s knocked down and out by an invading Liv Morgan as Liv and Stephnie brawl again. The officials can’t keep them apart as they keep breaking through and brawling and Liv gives us crazy eyes. They rocked this, not going to lie. Cathy is helped to the back by the refs as we take a look back at Rhea Ripley attacking B-Fab and Michin on SmackDown before Jade Cargill defeated Iyo Sky.

Jackie Redmond is backstage with Iyo Sky. Asuka and Kairi Sane come up and Asuka reminds Iyo that last year she went into Mania as champion and is just Rhea’s sidekick this year. Asuka says that Kairi will prove her loyalty against Asuka tonight.

The Usos (Main Event Jey and Big Jim Uso) and L.A. Knight vs The MFTS (Solo Sikoa, JC Mateo and Tonga Loa with Talla Tonga)

Jimmy and Jey yeet through the crowd through Jey’s theme being modified to “it’s just us” instead of “it’s just me,” which was the simple change they needed instead of whatever that theme song was two weeks ago. Solo last competed on Raw in December, losing to Gunther in the Cena tournament, while this is the in-ring Raw debut for Mateo and Loa. After Jey is worked over a bit, Knight gerts the hot tag and a top rope elbow on Loa for a pin broken up by Mateo. Jimmy hits a super kick, Solo gets the spike, Jey pulls him outside and dives into him but is bounced onto the announce desk. Tama Tonga appears in the announce area and eyeballs the rest of the MFT squad, giving Knight a chance to BFT the abandoned Loa for the pin.

L.A. Knight pins Tonga Loa, Knight & The Usos defeat The MFTs. I haven’t been into SmackDown, but we’re advancing a story happening there which is good. We missed a good chunk of this match thanks to commercials, so I don’t have much of a rating to give you. I’d like to see more of Solo on Raw.

Cole updates us on Cathy Kelley. She’s going to be okay. She better. I’ll fight for Cathy.

Here’s a look at Pat McAfee saying some things on SmackDown.

The Ring General Gunther has joined us in the arena for some thoughts. After we take a break, Seth Freakin’ Rollins runs in to attack Gunther. Seth grabs a mic and says he’s finishing the job at WrestleMania. He wants to know why things are personal for Gunther. Gunther returns to the ring and says he’s solving Paul Heyman’s problem because Seth is pissing him off. He’s tired of Seth strutting around thinking he’s the best. “It’s very personal for me to expose that Seth Rollins can’t lace my boots.” They brawl again and the suits are selective and do not break up this battle. Pearce, get your people. Seth tries to stomp Gunther on the steel steps but Gunther dodges, diving into the crowd. These two will battle Saturday. Meh segment for me.

John Cena narrates a video package about Club WWE, which provides early access to tickets and merch, rewards and a community forum. Join the waitlist. Or not.

AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio is complaining to Pearce. He signed a contract to fight Finn Balor, not The Demon, so this isn’t fair.

Celebrities! They love Raw! Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, an actor from Netflix’s “Man on Fire,” is here. Dylan Cardwell of the Sacramento Kings has the Kings Championship belt. The stars love Raw!

Iyo Sky vs Kairi Sane (vs Asuka)

This will probably give us some indication of if Iyo Sky has a road to WrestleMania. She might also have a road to the Raw After Mania and a showdown against Asuka there because they have to have things to advertise for that as well. Kairi spears Iyo into the corner and drops the running elbow in the corner and then one to a standing Iyo. Good back and forth action for a bit as we’ve gotten a few times in Raw showdowns between these two. Kairi pulls Iyo to ringside and tries to toss her into the timekeeper’s area, Iyo keeping off the barricade onto her instead to send us to another stretch of advertisements.

We’re back in the ring and trading blows when we return. Kairi runs into a kick and then a beautiful missile dropkick. This crowd really loves some Iyo. Iyo lands the Bullet Train and goes up top, Kairi bouncing up to push her on the ringpost. Iyo pulls Kairi up to the second rope and sets up a super plex, Kairi headbutts her. With Iyo tied up in the ropes, Asuka jumps up and smashes Iyo into the ring post as referee Jessika Carr checks on Kairi. That triggers the music of Rhea Ripley, who I assume was backstage checking on Cathy, who runs out and tries to Riptide Asuka. Here’s WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill to attack Rhea and now here’s Iyo to leap onto Jade. Kairi tries to pull Iyo inside in all of this and Iyo kicks her and heads up for the moonsault, Asuka again knocking her down as the ref again misses it. Kairi rolls up Iyo and gets the win. Becky might’ve been right about Jessika.

Kairi Sane pins Iyo Sky. This was a good match which is typical when these two wrestle. I’d imagine we might be getting a Raw After Mania tag match? The mystery remains.

Here’s a video package hyping up Becky Lynch vs AJ Lee set to “Kerosene” by The Warning.

The center of our universe WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H has gotten an introduction and is in the ring with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce. They bring out Oba Femi to get the second contract signature. Oba gets all the chants. He signs and we have finally made this match we’ve been hyping for a month official which is good since the show is days away. Heyman appears on the ramp. “I’ve never, ever seen someone come across to the audience as the biggest star in the industry as fast as Oba Femi.” He knows Oba is a violent man and he’s staying on the ramp. He makes several Oba/Brock comparisons. Everything’s going to come down for Oba at Mania. Paul promises that his door will be open when Oba needs to rebuild his career after Mania. Oba says it is taking everything in him to not come down the ramp and beat him up (the fans chant “beat his ass”). He tells him to go ahead and close the door of opportunity because the only one he needs is the door to WrestleMania. Oba says it is all just business but this time we can ALL feel it because “it is time to put an end to The Beast.” He tells Paul that if he was honest, Paul would have said his client is scared of Oba Femi. Paul Heyman, known for his honesty. Oba: “I have always been the one. I’m the one, Paul. I am the one and I know it, they know it, and at WrestleMania you will know it too.” Hell of a promo for Oba.

Here is the music video for “Trouble” that Liv Morgan released today. It’s not bad. It’s no Sabrina Carpenter.

In case you have forgotten about him, here’s a video of Triple H entering at WrestleMania 32. You could bid on a skull mask worn by an extra and autographed by the center of the universe. You could also just CashApp me the money instead.

Je’Von Evans and Dragon Lee vs Rusev and JD McDonough

These four will join Penta and Rey Mysterio in the ladder match at Mania. Rusev slams Lee around. Je’Von gets the tag and does bouncy things until he runs into Rusev’s right hand. Rusev catches Evans and tosses him over the announce table with a fallaway slam to send us to break.

Lee and JD battle when we come back, Lee ranaing JD to ringside and bringing him back in for a snapdragon suplex. JD hits a Spanish Fly for a two, Evans breaks the pinfall. Evans lands the Red Dot on Evans and bounces onto him at ringside. Lee rolls JD into the Styles Clash for the pin. WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio tries to save the good guys from a Rusev attack after the match but runs into a clothesline. WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta tries for the save but is kicked down as well as Rusev delivers kicks to the entire field.

Dragon Lee pins JD McDonough, Lee & Evans defeat Rusev & McDonough. We lost a good bit of this to the break too, but it’s all Mania setup anyway.

Cole and Graves run us through the entire programming lineup for the big WrestleMania weekend and run through the card. Niz will have your SmackDown review, Scott Keith will Rant on the two nights of WrestleMania and I’ll have the Raw After Mania for you.

Pearce is on the phone talking about Cena on the phone when Danhausen joins us. He demands to speak to Cena and Pearce suggests he speak to him at WrestleMania. “Hopefully I can see him because you can’t see me.” Danhausen disappears.

OTC1 Roman Reigns joins us for our main event segment of the evening. He asks for acknowledgement and is immediately interrupted by WWE World Champion CM Punk and “Cult of Personality.” We cut to Punk walking through the crowd slapping hands all the way down to ringside. Walk faster Punk, some of us like to go to sleep. He eventually finds his way to the top of the announce table so we can start this promo. He’d like to speak some truth and Roman tells him that if he comes in the ring, they won’t need mics. Punk envies that his dream was handed to Roman and that Roman was champion for 1,316 days because he hates how hard Roman worked his ass off to be that great. He hates the amount of times that Roman has main evented WrestleMania. Sika was a great man and he loves and respects the old timers and hates that he invoked his name in vain and sincerely apologizes for it. Punk steps in the ring.

“I hate that there’s more than one royal family in professional wrestling and I hate that I envy the fact that I wasn’t born into a dynasty. I don’t know what having that kind of family is like. CM Punk was born in the backyards, avenues and alleyways of Chicago. I was a misfit who had to find my own family.” He found his family on the indies, in Japan, and in VFW Halls. Sunday night, there will be gold above his head and Alicia Taylor will be saying “and still, heavyweight champion of the world.”

Roman responds. “That’s probably the truest stuff I’ve ever heard you say… up until the end. Let me tell you something true. I hate you too. I’ve hated you for a long time. But the main reason is because of your relationship with all of them. You see, I hope that one day when I get to the point where I leave, they miss me as much as they missed you. I hope one day when I leave they chant for me for ten years straight.” On Sunday, the time is up. “On Sunday, we fix this mess that you started. On Sunday, we make this place where we had it at the very top worth every single dollar. On Sunday, the Tribal Chief takes back over and you and the whole world will acknowledge me.” They stare at each other as the credits roll.

A so-so show tonight that never really lost my interest. The last week of shows before Mania are always safe and you know the performers with Mania matches aren’t going to be doing anything crazy to endanger their spots. Things were more promo heavy than usual, but the promos were mostly good. Oba especially was solid. As far as the matches, Asuka-Kairi was a good match worth checking out. You’re not missing a lot by just watching the ten minute “Raw highlights” video they’ll post on YouTube tomorrow. As far as Mania itself, they’ve done a solid job of building up my hype after a very slow start for the Raw side of things.

We’re a mere two weeks away from WrestleMania. Yes, we’re going to make it there. Will we have more corporate synergy tonight than we already have on ? Let’s find out!

The week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Impact / SmackDown / Stand & Deliver / Lucha Libre WWE

As always, let me plug the SmackDown Rewind. On last week’s adventure, it’s the last SmackDown before Armageddon and there is a sea of masked men. No, Seth Rollins is not involved.

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Arrivals! Oba Femi is the first person we see tonight. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky! WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta, Je’Von Evans and Dragon Lee! WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk is here later tonight… but no, he’s heading out right now because he’s a rebel!

WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk starts us off in the arena with “Cult of Personality” and a steady march to the ring, tossing his title into the ring. 11,769 are here in Houston at the Toyota Center for Monday Night Raw, live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash.

Punk sits down on top of the Slim Jim logo and sits out a “CM Punk” chant mixed in with some booing that turns into chants for “OTC.” He talks about the history of wrestling in Houston but there are ghosts of things that were supposed to happen that haunt him as well. He can’t help but compare himself to old timers and wonders what Harley Race would do. “Roman Reigns is not here tonight.” He talks about Roman putting him through the announce table two weeks ago and then doing the same to Roman last week. “If Roman hates me, that tells me I’m exactly where I need to be.” Punk heads over to the announce table, occupied by Michael Cole and Corey Graves, and hands his gold to Cole. “I showed up and I’m an old man. Old, not weak.” Very mixed crowd here for the Punkster.

Punk climbs on top of the announce table and Points To Sign. He tells us he understands why TKO sends Roman to Jimmy Fallon. “It’s because you’re safe and you’re boring and you’re plastic and you’re saccharine and me, I’m dangerous. Why is it that I can film half a dozen television shows and movies and never miss a goddamn day?”

“At least The Rock is a Hollywood superstar. Oh, I’m sorry. WAS a Hollywood superstar. My bloated cousin isn’t on the board of directors.” He’s paid his dues and earned everything he’s busted his ass. “You are just a bucktooth nepo baby who ate dog food for a weird old man.” The fans continue to mix booing and the Punk chants. “And that weird old man for years treated me like a dog and he expected me to smile, but I had FU money, so I took that and my dignity and I left and THAT’s why you hate me.” He says Roman sucked at the first eight WrestleManias he competed at and “I can gleefully stand on the bridge AND blow it up because bitch I know how to swim. Everybody’s getting it tonight. Pat MAGAfee, you buggy-whipped armed no brain hillbilly, you think you can come here to my business of pro wrestling and run your mouth. You just wrote a check that your narrow ass can’t cash. You want to talk about ticket sales? Call up that agent that was foolish enough to shoehorn you into this business and this show and tell him to LOWER THE TICKET PRICES.” He promises McAfee a receipt. “Houston, lower the ticket prices because I want all these families to come and watch me stand on Roman Reigns’ throat at WrestleMania because my name is CM Punk and I approve this message.” Well, he certainly won over the crowd with the end. That was a lot, but it worked for me. I’ve been critical of a lot of Punk/Reigns being a bit too shooty, but it works a bit better in the flow of a Punk “pipe bomb” instead of the two guys arguing at each other.

Let’s take a look back at LA Knight attacking IShowSpeed on Speed’s YouTube stream.

IShowSpeed is here and encounters Danhausen, asking for him to lift the curse again. Danhausen says he’ll uncurse him for his mansion. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce walks up and begs for help, Danhausen disappearing. Pearce advises him to go home and up walk WWE World Tag Team Champions The Vision (Logan Paul & Austin Theory), telling Speed that he’s screwed and his only safe space is around The Vision. They lead Speed off. Pearce: “That is a terrible idea.”

WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory (with Logan Paul and IShowSpeed) vs L.A. Knight

Cole tells us this is the first time in three years these two men have faced each other, knowing I was ready to complain about a Knight vs Vision match. Knight starts hot with a series of slams on Theory. Knight kicks Theory to the outside and clotheslines him into the timekeeper’s area, celebrating on top of the barricade to take us to a break for commercials.

Knight hits a neck breaker on Theory as Cole tells us how reluctant Speed is to be out here. Knight is mostly cruising here but Theory nails a left hand and a rolling blockbuster to bring himself back in. Knight clotheslines Theory out in front of his partner. Knight pounds Theory into the announce table and rolls in to break the count before rolling back out. Paul distracts Knight and Logan shoves Speed into Knight. This is not good for Mr. Speed. Knight stalks Speed down the aisle and Main Event Jey Uso and Big Jim Uso come out to Jey’s theme as Speed speeds back into the ring and is caught by Knight. Speed screams for help and Theory nails Knight, rolling up Knight for the distraction win.

Austin Theory pins L.A. Knight. This was all fun business. An entertaining match and they’re nailing everything with this Speed deal. Never thought I’d say this, but you should watch an Austin Theory match.

Post-match, Speed is stuck in the ring telling the Usos and Knight that he didn’t do anything. The fans chant “you fucked up.” Jey grabs Speed in the corner and calls for the 3D. Logan grabs Speed out to safety. Knight grabs a mic and tells Adam Pearce to walk himself out. Knight thinks we should have a six-man match at WrestleMania. Pearce makes it official, though he should probably have had Speed sign a contract first. Speed gives us fear and The Vision continues to try to gaslight him.

It’s McAfee highlight package time. Cole tells us about his disappointment in McAfee’s behavior on SmackDown. He wants to let it play out and see where it goes. I’ve heard that line somewhere.

Finn Balor is walking and passes an arguing Kofi Kingston and Grayson Waller.

WrestleMania Moments: CM Punk will always remember being on John Cena’s car and seeing his path forward to the future.

Finn Balor vs JD McDonough

They’ve toyed with it off and on, but we’re fully embracing Finn’s former theme and fan interactions. AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio attacks Finn during said entrance and mocks it, Finn fights back and tosses JD in to the ring post as he does. Finn tosses Dom into the match and stomps him down, trying to fight off both men. Dom hits Finn from behind with his AAA gold and grabs a chair from JD, smacking Finn with it. Dom puts the chair over Finn and sits on it, taunting Finn and Pointing To Sign.

Here’s a vignette on WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee, covering her prior run (hi Kaitlyn!) and her return, including her title win at Elimination Chamber.

Earlier today, AJ Lee sits down with Michael Cole. Becky Lynch walks right in to interrupt and mock Cole being a terrible announcer for 29 years. He leaves and Becks takes his place. “I remember your last WrestleMania. You gave me a hug with your fake niceness and I saw it in your eyes, I saw your nervousness because you saw your replacement. The very next day you quit because you knew I was coming for you.” Becky says there’s no homefield advantage at WrestleMania. Lee tells her to keep underestimating her. She’s proud of Lynch for everything she’s done, “but none of that happens without me. Those heights that you soared to? I shattered those glass ceilings.” She reminds Becky that her own daughter would say AJ is her favorite wrestler and says she’ll see her at Mania. This was a very good promo for both of them.

Bayley (with Lyra Valkyria) vs WWE World Tag Team Champion Lash Legend (with Nia Jax)

I don’t feel like we get a clean ending here. Cole tells us that Nikki Bella is trying to rehab an injury so she can compete at WrestleMania and sends congratulations to Lola Vice on her Stand & Deliver win. Lash kicks Bayley to the outside and we take another break, something we just did about four minutes ago.

Back from it (including an ad for WrestleMania tickets), Lash catches Bayley and smashes her into the turnbuckle before slamming her into a backbreaker. Legend tries for a powerbomb, Bayley ranas her into the corner but then runs into a big forearm. Bayley catches Lash with a running knee and drops an elbow from the top for a two. Jax trips Bayley, Lash still misses an attack on Bayley and Lyra tries and fails to topple Nia. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss come out for the attack on Nia, Bayley leaps on the whole crew. She heads to the top again and Lash nails her with a forearm before climbing to the second rope and trying to superplex Bayley, who grabs Legend’s leg to cause Bayley to fall on top for the pin.

Bayley pins Lash Legend. Both women felt a bit off, maybe just not on the same page. Lash will continue to grow as she gets reps. This was never going to be a clean finish.

Celebrities! They love Raw! Here’s DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans Head Coach! And here’s Bun B, Rapper! And right there is Mark Henry, WWE Hall of Famer Class of 2018! Celebrities, they love WWE!

Cole and Graves lament this being the first WrestleMania without Hulk Hogan and send us to a trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary series. It does include Bret Hart saying, “You’re a liar.” Hulk: “I know where all the bodies are buried.”

Seth “Freakin’” Rollins is our next entrance in the arena with all of his fire and fan singing and another all-black outfit looking like he’s the Undertaker but with a slight sense of style. He’s been waiting to hear the fans sing so they do. He soaks it in a bit and circles the ring to encourage it. He Points To Sign and begins to talk about Gunther. He’s still trying to figure out how we got here because there’s no long history or personal issue with Gunther. “The only logical conclusion that I can come up with is that Gunther has entered into some sort of business relationship with Paul Heyman.” It’s his purpose to destroy The Vision and if Gunther has business with Heyman, he’s made it very personal. Fans gasp and here’s The Ring General Gunther to try for the sleeper, but Rollins briefly turns it into his own before Gunther dodges a stomp. They brawl across the announce table and Pearce and the suits are out the break it up. Gunther breaks loose and boots Seth before it’s all broken up. This was good enough and hyped things up for the sudden match a bit.

We cut to Gunther walking backstage and coming across Danhausen! No, that would be fun. He comes across WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman, which is less fun. Heyman isn’t sure why Gunther did what he did but he owes him a very big thank you. Why wouldn’t Seth just run back and attack him right now? Gunther says it is personal to him and offers a handshake which Heyman accepts, but pulls Heyman closer. “You owe me so much more than a very big thank you.”

Here’s a look at last week and a vignette with WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer, telling Liv Morgan that she is a brainless bitch that talks and says nothing and is trying to solve her daddy issues with Dom. “In Vegas, you will never get your hands on the Women’s World Championship because I’m taking you where no one can follow. Welcome to my inferno, Liv Morgan.”

WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta, Je’Von Evans and Dragon Lee vs El Grande Americano and Los Americanos (Rayo & Bravo Americano)

Evans and Lee qualified in matches on Main Event on Thursday to enter the ladder match for Penta’s Intercontinental Championship that they were announced for days earlier, while El Grande Americano posted a video on socials saying that he deserves to be in the match as well. One could wonder why Rayo Americano earned a qualifying match but Bravo didn’t, but that would be more thinking about the entire qualification process than WWE did.

Rayo and Evans start off with Je’Von hitting a neckbreaker, cutting backstage to Kofi Kingston watching Je’Von with a nod of approval. EGA tags in and dances with Los Americanos before Evans leaps on the crew. Je’Von flies outside onto Rayo, Lee flies on Bravo and Penta topes onto EGA before the trio do the Penta strut to take us to a break.

Penta is making short work of all three Americanos when we return. Lee tags in and dropkick Rayo in the corner and tries for his Styles Clash before Bravo pulls his partner to safety. Evans hits the Red Dot on Rayo but can’t hit the cutter. Lee hits the Clash and rolls Brayo into a pin attempt, barely broken by EGA. Lots of superkicks as Lee ranas EGA to the outside, Penta hits a Mexican Destroyer on the apron on Rayo and Evans smashes the OG Cutter from the top on Bravo.

Je’Von Evans pins Bravo Americano, the team of Penta, Evans and Lee defeat El Grande Americano & Los Americanos. A solid little match.

As Penta and friends celebrate, the music of WWE & AAA Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio surprises everyone. Rey greets the crew in the ring and he’s spoken to Pearce. The match at Mania is missing Rey Mysterio and Penta grabs his hand, saying that it’s time to make history.

Let’s talk about Pat McAfee some more! Here’s a look at what happened again and focus on Cody’s promo later in the night. McAfee has been added to the match graphic. You know what this match needed? McAfee on the graphic.

Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky are stretching and hugging. We see Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri discussing things in the background.

Here’s a look at Speed and then a look at Brock and Oba interacting last week. Lots of video packages.

Here’s another! Asuka tells Iyo Sky that she came to WWE to pave a path for her and Kairi Sane and Iyo took advantage of her kindness.

Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs Michin & B-Fab (with WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill)

I am very sorry for poor Cathy Kelley who thought she finally had Rhea to herself again until Iyo showed up. This is only the second Raw match for B-Fab, who last competed on the show in February 2024 in a last chance Elimination Chamber qualifying battle royal with names such as Elektra Lopez, Katana Chance, and the winner Raquel Rodriguez.

Shoutout as always to our ring announcer, the great Alicai Taylor. Rhea and B-Fab start out, Rhea flipping Michin in as well and then tossing her back out. B-Fab works over Rhea with a few elbows in the corner and catches a good DDT for a two count. Iyo and Michin get tags and Iyo rolls Michin into a stomp. Iyo leaps onto both opponents with a missile dropkick and points to her head before suicide diving onto both of them and taking us to a commercial break.

We return to Graves talking about the improvements of B-Fab and Michin as B-Fab works over Iyo and knocks Rhea down with a cheap shot. Jade pulls Rhea off the apron, preventing the tag. Michin runs into the ring post and Iyo rolls B-Fab into a three count, just like that. Jade and her girls work over Iyo and Michin grabs a kendo stick but Rhea makes the save, Michin doing a spectacular sell on the headbutt before Jade taunts Ripley. As B-Fab and Michin hold Rhea back, Jade grabs that kendo stick and goes to work on Iyo, Ripley screaming out in agony. Jade lands Jaded on Iyo and looks back at Rhea.

Iyo Sky pins B-Fab, Ripley & Sky defeat B-Fab & Michin. The match itself wasn’t anything special, but the post-match stuff did a lot more to sell the match than most anything else the last few weeks.

Kit Wilson and Kiana James are at Netflix House, which is a thing that exists.

Finn Balor has found time to film an entire multi-camera fully edited vignette about the attack earlier tonight. There’s a side of him that he’s never shown Dom, one that he thought was gone forever, and Dom has awoken it. “It’s back and at WrestleMania, it’s coming for you.” We hear the heartbeat of his music as we fade out.

Dominik is backstage with Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and JD McDonough. JD wonders how Dom’s deadbeat dad got into the ladder match and Dom suggests they go talk to Pearce. When the boys leave, Roxanne Perez walks up on the girls and Liv asks for time alone with her. Liv wants to address the elephant in the room, Finn. Liv says they did what needed to be done and Stephanie Vaquer attacks, tossing Liv into the TV but not disturbing the PS5 at least.

The center of our universe, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, gets his full entrance and is here for our main event contract signing alongside Adam Pearce. Lotta baldness walking the ramp. The voice of Paul Heyman interrupts Pearce. Heyman talks a lot before the fans interrupt him with “Oba” chanting and then introduces Brock Lesnar as the credits roll. Brock shakes the hands of Levesque and Pearce as the fans chant again for Oba.

Oba Femi joins us to a gigantic response and struts his way down to the ring looking like the coolest man alive. Brock attacks Oba as he tries to enter and Oba catches him, driving him into the ring post. Pearce calls for security as they brawl through a table and security tries to break them up. You know how that goes, right? Brock breaks free and leaps on Femi, then Femi does the same to Brock. Brock launches a chair at Brock; Femi tosses it back. We fade on the chaos.

Now this, THIS felt like a Raw that made me care about WrestleMania. It all hit tonight. The Punk stuff at the beginning is something we’ll probably talk about for a long time and the Oba/Lesnar brawl continues to make their match feel must-see. In between that, we had a good six-man that hyped up the ladder match and added Rey to it, good attacks by both women’s singles champions on their challengers, and good build for Speed and friends, Finn/Dom and Seth/Gunther. The weak spot might’ve been Bayley and Lash, but overall, a home run of a show. Go watch the opening and closing segments, check out the Theory/Knight highlights, and jump into the close of the Ripley/Cargill situation if nothing else.